Heartbeat of the War God
by October
Summary: Rg Veda, post-vol. 10. When Yasha and Ashura return to Zenmijou, will Emporer Tenou, Ashura's twin brother, forgive them for the devastation they helped cause 2000 years before? Light sex is the typical romance novel type, some angst and drama too.
1. Introduction

HEARTBEAT OF THE WAR GOD  
  
by October  
  
Rg Veda FF. HE. PG-13. Post-Volume 10, so SPOILERS THROUGHOUT.  
  
Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine and I'm making no money from them.  
  
Notes  
  
When CLAMP wrote "Rg Veda" they took a lot of artistic liberty with the Vedic mythology. In this story I continue CLAMP's mythical spin-offs, while trying to expand on some ideas just for fun. I hope it's more interesting than messy!  
  
Yasha needs some background explanation for this story. The CLAMP character is actually a hybrid, a combination of the Southern Quarter Guardian Yama, God of Death and Righteousness, and a Yaksha, a demon. So Yasha/Yama in this story really is the God of Death as well as being the king of a lost clan. (In the Vedic mythos the Yaksha clan lived in the North in the Himalayas, in a valley called Alaka.)  
  
CLAMP got half of Ashura from the Asura clan, another bunch of demons. This clan was more aggressive than the Yakshas and in the old stories they terrorized the earth until the god Shiva stopped them. Ashura's other half is, fittingly, derived from one specific, gender-ambiguous form of Shiva. So I beefed up Ashura's role a little as an avatar of Shiva.  
  
It's food for thought that both Yasha and Ashura are actually half-god, half-demon, as opposed to Taishakuten who is based only on the god side of things, and Ashura-ou who is pure demon despite his good looks.  
  
My references to high technology, like the vimanas (airplanes, UFO's) are taken from the original myths. There Is a real Sanskrit term for "airplane hangar..." Whether I spelled it right is another thing.  
  
My references to the Ashura engineer Maya and his band of refugees are drawn from the myths. Where they ended up are the speculations of historians. And Tenkai itself is here brought a little closer to Earth as I tried to make its geography and its people correspond more closely with ours.  
  
Thanks for reading my story. CC is welcome, but flames... Well, Ashura can handle those... ^_^;; 


	2. The Woman in the Dream

HEARTBEAT OF THE WAR GOD  
  
Chapter One: The Woman in the Dream  
  
Yasha and Ashura had built a monument for the dead in a clearing in the forest not far from the old Zenmijou. It wasn't impressive; merely stones piled one atop the other to form a sort of cairn. When it was complete, with flags torn from their clothing flying in the stiff breeze, Ashura had collapsed in an anguish that knew no bounds.  
  
For three days Ashura wept almost ceaselessly, and Yasha had begun to wonder if his loved one was going to die. But on the fourth day Ashura climbed to shaky feet, with a grim and thoughtful face. "Let us leave this place, Yasha. I never want to see it again!"  
  
* * *  
  
They took to the deep woods. Yasha hunted. Ashura would not kill and refused to eat meat, tall body growing even thinner, long hair dirty and disheveled, clothes worn down to rags. Yasha, too, grew leaner and hungrier, until the pair looked like two wolves, wandering through some exotic tropical landscape where they did not belong.  
  
For the first few months, Ashura was prone to violent nightmares. Screams rang through the forest on starless nights. No words and no comfort of Yasha's could stop it. At last in desperation he made a murti of clay by the banks of a mighty river and prayed to the higher gods, in particular to Shiva, of whom Ashura was a manifestation. That night a crow came fluttering from nowhere to perch for a time on Ashura's shoulder.  
  
The nightmares began to diminish after that and Time began to heal them, but very slowly. They found a clearing a yohana from a village where Yasha was able to trade furs and other forest goods for basic necessities. They built a shelter out of sticks and thatch. During the rainy season they huddled together under the dripping roof, wrapped in a rough but warm wool blanket. During the hot season they lay panting in the shade of the riverbank, on the lookout for crocodiles. And, during all this time, the Black Ashura made not one appearance.  
  
Sometimes Yasha would let Ashura's hair loose, and made his companion cover those long ears and shadow those golden eyes with a hood, and they would steal together into the village on festival days to watch the dancing. Ashura had always had a great fondness for this peaceable art. Back in the forest, delicate feet began to trace patterns around the fire at night. Ashura was coming slowly alive again.  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha had gone to the village with a beautiful tiger-skin, and now he was bringing back jewelry and a long golden needle. When he strode tirelessly into camp, he noticed there was a small fire burning at the center of the clearing, though the evening was warm. Nearby, Ashura sat unselfconsciously naked on a mossy stone, long black hair loose and cascading gracefully down. Necklaces and glistening chains of gold sparked in the firelight like sun on water. An eerily smooth sculpture, Ashura seemed something out of another reality.  
  
"Yasha!" Ashura sprang lightly down from the stone. In the next instant Yasha went sprawling, Ashura's arms around his neck.  
  
Yasha grunted and sat up, distentangling himself from Ashura's arms and hair. "You are no child any longer, Ashura-- you are heavy!" His good eye glinted with mischief. "Perhaps you are getting fat?"  
  
"Me-- Ashura-- fat?!" Ashura was horrified. Yasha chuckled. "I found these-- and this-- and a piercing needle just for Ashura. Look." He produced the jewelry from his leather belt pouch.  
  
"Better than bamboo! Thank you, Yasha!" Ashura sat down in the leaves. "Will you put in my earring now?"  
  
Yasha touched the delicate shell of Ashura's ear and hesitated.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
The question shamed him out of it. Ashura loved body ornaments and Yasha had been doing the occaisional piercing here and there for years now, but still.... Yasha sighed and pushed the needle through the ear. There was no blood and Ashura did not wince. Quickly Yasha threaded in the gold and amber earring. Ashura turned; the new ornament glinted in the firelight. "Does it look good?"  
  
"You are the ornament of your ornaments," Yasha said, quite truthfully. "But-- yes, it becomes you."  
  
Without another word Ashura smiled and rose and moved with flowing grace to dance around the fire to a music Yasha could not hear. It was a new thing, Ashura dancing this happily, and Yasha sat with his back to a tree and watched contentedly. If Ashura was happy, he was happy.  
  
Ashura had become part of the fire, dancing with the flames in the Great Dance that only the gods knew, leaping and spinning, now taking the three exaggerated steps of Vishnu who had spanned the universe, now pirouetting once on a long leg, the other drawn up, one arm gracefully down, one outflung in the classic Dance of Shiva, surrounded by golden flames. Yasha wondered what the ancient clan-dances of Ashura's tribe had been like, before they had all been destroyed, and slowly he drifted into a waking dream where a hundred Ashuras danced, all in their own universes-- a hundred Ashuras, full males and females as his Ashura was not, all trailing gold and amber ornaments.  
  
At last, when the fire was dying, Yasha shook himself from his reverie to find Ashura resting against his side under the tree. He pulled their shared blanket around the bare skin and Ashura smiled sleepily. "Did Yasha like the dance?"  
  
"Yasha liked it very much," the warrior god said tenderly, appreciating that Ashura still used the endearing childlike love-language they had made their own in days gone by.  
  
"If Yasha wants... I will dance every day." The golden eyes were drifting slowly closed. Yasha bent to kiss them in gentle blessing, then leaned back against the tree, shutting his good eye peacefully and settling down to sleep. If the rest of their existence could be so peaceful, he would think of them both as lucky.  
  
* * *  
  
The fire had long since died. The moon was full and setting. Yasha woke. Ashura still slept soundly beside him, but the contented look had disappeared. A low moan escaped the perfect mouth. It was another nightmare-- and after such a beautiful evening, Yasha thought regretfully. He leaned over Ashura, whispering into the other's ear until the whimpering stopped and his loved one sank into deeper sleep. Satisfied, Yasha dozed off. But soon after, Yasha was woken a second time by Ashura crying out sharply. Gently he shook Ashura awake. Tears spilled from the golden eyes. "I saw a woman. She was coming toward us, but she only looked at you. She only talked to you. And she said-- 'Why are you still dragging around that wretched Ashura?'  
  
"She said she was a maid from Tentei Tenou's court. Tenou-- my own brother had sent for you but not for me! Then she said again, why didn't you discard the cursed one, that you would get no children on such a one--"  
  
"Dismiss it, Ashura."  
  
"But it was so real! I... I can still see her...  
  
"Why...? Why must I be so useless? Why am I not like her? I would... I would... There was a temple in the forest, a long time ago... Do you remember that?"  
  
Yasha touched the delicate chin, raising Ashura's head so the golden eyes met his fully, clearing slightly under his steady gaze. "Ashura. We have spoken of this before. You do not need to be thinking things like these. You owe me nothing like that, and even if you did, I would not touch you, for I would hurt you."  
  
Ashura was talking about a forest hideout they had used on their long journey to defeat Taishaku-ten two thousand years before. The ancient building had been intricately carved with hundreds of figures engaged in activities as imaginative as they were erotic. Ashura had been spellbound. Ryuu-ou had noticed Ashura's fascination and thought it humorous, even though Ashura had seen him surreptitiously casting his own glances at the same artwork, ancient but timeless. Ryuu hadn't meant to be cruel. Ashura had wandered around the whole temple, even climbing one side and disturbing a nest of snakes, but had never found a single figure like Ashura. Ryuu had finally just said, kindly, that Ashura was a very rare kind of person.  
  
Ryuu-ou... Ryuu had died on Shurato's blade. The playful temple images receded, washed out by a sheet of blood and a tremor of pure horror. "Ryuu... RYUU! No..."  
  
Yasha knew from experience that the rest of the night was going to be difficult. The nightmares had never fully ceased. He lay Yamato on the blanket and stretched out along its length. He knew better than to try and stop or stifle Ashura's traumatized reaction in any way. Ryuu-ou had been a good and faithful friend, playmate, and protector, second only to Yasha, and Black Ashura had run him through without mercy or thought. Yasha doubted if Ashura would ever recover from it. All he could do was to be there. He lay still, listening to Ashura's gut-wrenching sobs, resisting the instinct to "hush, hush..." Wondering who the woman in the dream really might be, and if it was just another of Ashura's nightmares, or a true sending.  
  
After awhile he spoke very softly. "Ashura."  
  
"Y- Yasha?"  
  
"If you were ever to kill me, I would understand and forgive you. Remember that. Just the same, Ryuu-ou loved you very much. He knows that you were not yourself. He knows it was not the Ashura he loves who killed him... You said he smiled at you."  
  
"Ryuu--!" Ashura raised a tear-streaked face to the pale sky.  
  
"Ashura. Tell Ryuu with all your heart how sorry you are and he will hear you. There are many heavens and he has gone on to the next, but he will hear you if you speak from the heart."  
  
"Do-- do you think-- we will meet again?"  
  
"I don't know. But I do know Ryuu can hear you, always." Yasha sighed a deep sigh, reaching for Ashura's hand. "We will leave this place soon. It is the jungle. It harbors ruins. It reminds you of that temple, and of Ryuu."  
  
"I don't want to leave."  
  
"There is somewhere far away I would like to go."  
  
"If we go North, Yasha, I will be cold."  
  
Yasha moved to hold his companion close, pulling the fallen blanket back over Ashura's pale skin. "I will keep you warm." 


	3. Shurato, Lost and Found

Chapter Two: Shurato, Lost and Found  
  
"...If you were ever to kill me, I would understand and forgive. Remember that."  
  
When the grey morning finally came, Ashura was shivering violently, lying on top of the blanket with no other covering. Yasha blinked sleep from his eyes, then immediately rose to quietly wrap Ashura in the part of the blanket he'd been lying on. It was warm and Ashura sighed, burrowing completely under it.  
  
There was something wrong. Yasha could not define what it was. He paused while building the fire and stood still, head cocked as if listening. It was almost as though a foreign presence were watching his every move; yet Yamato hung heavy and silent on his back, giving no such warning.  
  
Ashura wasn't in good shape after the night's outburst. Perhaps that was it. Yasha proceeded to cook what was left of their food. He would need to hunt today.  
  
Ashura lay under the blanket until the sun was almost at noon. Finally Yasha called gently, "There is food ready."  
  
Ashura didn't answer. Yasha lifted the blanket. Golden eyes blinked hazily at him, but they were unfocused, feverish. "Ashura! What's wrong?"  
  
Ashura smiled gently. "Ashura will never kill again."  
  
"What did you do? Ashura!" Yasha reached to shake the white shoulders. Ornaments jingled softly.  
  
"Ashura... has abandoned Shurato."  
  
Yasha sat back on his heels, openmouthed. The solution was so simple, so elegant... but Yamato was such a part of himself that he hadn't thought of it. For that matter, Shurato was a physical part of Ashura-- Ashura's "other half."  
  
"Where did you hide her, Ashura?"  
  
"Only I know that."  
  
Yasha hesitated. He did not like Ashura keeping secrets. But Ashura's eyes challenged him to uncover this one. Finally he relented. "I will bring you food. And if you do not tell me where your sword is, I can find her easily enough with Yamato."  
  
The golden eyes blinked in surprise at that, and Yasha smiled a little. Ashura's mental capacity seemed to fluctuate along with the rest of the rhythms of that unique personality-- a mind sometimes too intelligent for Yasha to follow, and sometimes utterly naieve.  
  
* * *  
  
As the day wore on, Ashura became weaker and weaker. Yasha went hunting. When he returned with a small spotted deer, Ashura was barely conscious. Fear struck Yasha and he did not take time to cook the venison, but instead quickly hung the deer by the hind legs and collected the blood in a wooden bowl. Ashura would not drink it. Finally Yasha chewed the venison himself and tried to feed it to Ashura as a mother would a babe, but Ashura refused it and lapsed into unconsciousness soon after.  
  
Abandoning Shurato had been a good idea, but it was not going to work. Yasha doubted this was a deliberate suicide attempt, though he had feared something of the sort for a long time. It was possible... but Ashura knew how Yasha would feel all alone. More likely Ashura, guided in the moment by less than full intelligence, had simply miscalculated.  
  
Yasha had to find Shurato, but it meant leaving Ashura vulnerable. He could not cover ground fast enough while carrying his beloved. What beasts roamed in this forest, Mahadeva only knew. Certainly there were plenty of tigers. He lowered the carcass of the dead deer and dragged it well off as a distraction, then lifted Ashura into the huge spreading boughs of the tree in which they were often used to sleeping. Then, unsheathing Yamato, he spoke softly to the sword. "Yamato. Your love is lost. You must help me find her."  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha trotted fast over moss and stone, cursing himself for not trying to retrieve Shurato immediately. Of course, neither he nor Ashura had known what the result of abandoning the weapon would be; but that did not matter now. Yamato whispered the direction to his mind and he followed without question. Yamato was never wrong.  
  
How far had Ashura wandered in the dark hours of the morning? Yasha ran for what seemed like too far. The sun sank and the stars came out. Tigers roared. A peacock screamed as something snatched it from its roost. Yasha swore. Then Yamato told him to slow down. He bore right, the sword almost tugging him along, and there was Shurato's golden glow, hidden deep in the bole of an ancient tree.  
  
Shurato was enveloped in a kekkai similar to what had protected Ashura at times in the past. The sword was a living organism. What magic Ashura had woven to set the spell, Yasha did not know; but Yamato shuddered silently and Yasha knew he would not be able to reach Shurato. Ashura had deliberately seen to that. But I must! I must get Shurato back! Hefting Yamato in both hands, he found good footing among the slick stones and struck the kekkai with everything he had. He was thrown backwards instantly, Yamato flying from his grip.  
  
Yasha rolled over and got to his feet, then froze as he realized he had not heard Yamato clatter to the ground... but rather the soft sound of someone catching it. In that instant he recognized the presence he'd felt earlier. "Who's there?!"  
  
Soft laughter from the darkness. For one shocked moment Yasha mistook it for the laughter of Black Ashura--until the strange woman stepped out of the darkness, Yamato held fearlessly in her palms. "I can retrieve that sword for you." She smiled, offering back Yamato.  
  
He took it quickly. "Who are you?" he demanded. "What do you want?"  
  
"My name is Shukidevi. I want you."  
  
Yasha's astonishment was partly testimony to his modesty, and partly a result of the suddenness of the woman's appearance here, in the trackless depths of the jungle that only deer and tigers knew. "I am already wedded by Gandharva rite!"  
  
She shook her head. "You are hardly wedded to that barren creature. Don't you know it could cause your death?"  
  
Yasha's face grew very grim. "You said you could retrieve that sword. Get it for me." He nodded toward the kekkai.  
  
"First you must promise to someday give me what I desire."  
  
"I cannot. I am sworn to my loved one!"  
  
"Your 'loved one' has never even been taken by you! How can you call that Gandharva rite? You are a celibate, Yasha-ou, forever dreaming of an illusion!"  
  
Yasha was beyond both rage and embarrassment. He felt the sheer urge to kill beginning to build and fought it down with brute willpower. "You are a miko then? Or a stargazer? You know who we are?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
Yasha was silent for a brief time as his mind raced over the options. Finally he spoke with reluctance. "I should kill you, but... Get me the sword. Cease to watch us, and I will give you what you desire for one night. Otherwise--" His face grew even grimmer.  
  
Shukidevi did not seem surprised or fearful. On the contrary, she looked a bit pleased. Yasha thought that perhaps she had not expected even this much. "Very well. Yasha-ou is a man of his word." She turned toward the kekkai. "This protection spell is very strong. Give me your hand."  
  
Yasha extended his right hand with reluctance. The warm, soft fingers that closed over his felt so much like Ashura's... He allowed himself to think of Ashura, only of Ashura. That betraying Ashura's trust was necessary to save Ashura's life. Yamato whispered; he felt its power being drained through him; he closed his eyes. A moment later there was a flash, the kekkai was shattered, Yasha dropped the miko's hand and strode forward quickly to pull Shurato free. As he did so, the sword woke, its eyes flying open. He lifted the fabulous weapon in the air and it disintegrated into cometary swirls of light, shooting away into the forest. Back to her master, he thought with satisfaction. In his left hand, Yamato felt content.  
  
Yasha sighed deeply and sheathed Yamato. "Thank you. Now I must return to Ashura... but my promise to you holds. When, and where?"  
  
She only smiled, holding up a hand as if in farewell. "One day you will come to me."  
  
Yasha shook his head in bewilderment. He was standing alone in a glade with Yamato at his side. Shukidevi was gone.  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha returned to an Ashura who was weak but conscious, sliding out of the tree into Yasha's beckoning arms. He held Ashura fiercely to him. "Do not leave Shurato again!" he whispered. "You ran away from a part of yourself."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Yasha... How many hells must I endure for my sins in this life? Can anyone tell?"  
  
Yasha looked grimly down into the pleading eyes. "You will endure no hells. I will be with you, always. I will protect you, always. Even against Brahma, Vishnu and your own heavenly Father, Shiva, I will protect you!"  
  
Ashura leaned against him silently. 


	4. The Kiss of the God

Chapter Three: The Kiss of the God  
  
After the rainy season came and went, they drifted northwards toward Yasha's ancestral home, Alaka, once the realm of Kubera, God of Wealth, now a vast and empty valley in the high mountains. Ashura did not want to go, preferring the tropical South regardless of its dreams and associations, but Yasha, for once, was insistent. "It will be changed, Ashura," he said-- and so it was. The glaciers had melted; the snow was gone; and as they made their crude camp at the edge of the valley that once had sheltered Yasha's clan, both were surprised by the number and profusion of birds and wildflowers springing up in this once-desolate place.  
  
Later, Yasha and Ashura sat quietly beneath a wind-twisted cherry tree in full bloom, gazing together out over the world. A bright Spring had come to a place it had barely touched before, and the new sun seemed to pull at Ashura's heart painfully as its rays slanted behind the mountains. Of Yasha's village, not a trace remained-- only a great blue lake where it had stood, and around that, green hills, trees, and tender grass. White butterflies were everywhere, as if in reminder of the snows long past. A herd of wild horses moved here and there, no doubt the descendants of the horses imported by the Yasha clan.  
  
Ashura's chin rested on Yasha's shoulder. "Yasha? It is so peaceful here. So beautiful now. So why does it make me cry inside?"  
  
"I feel it too, Ashura. It is the presence and the absence of God Mahadeva."  
  
"I do not understand."  
  
Yasha tried to explain. "It is that great beauty which you can see but can never touch; the thirst you feel when you see the sun behind the mountains, yes? And you wish to chase it like a butterfly, but it cannot be caught."  
  
"Oh yes! Exactly."  
  
"If you were to seek behind the mountains, there would only be more mountains. But it is not the sun or the mountains you thirst for-- you are in the mountains already, and the sun is falling right now upon your head like these cherry blossoms."  
  
Ashura caressed Yasha's cheek in silent agreement.  
  
"It is like a beautiful song, a venugita, and you dance to it, but you cannot see the player of the flute. That is the absence of the God."  
  
"But where is Mahadeva? Why should He leave?"  
  
"Mahadeva only knows these things. But by making us feel His absence so keenly, we know of His presence." Yasha turned a little and smiled at Ashura's obvious confusion. "Ashura. If there were no such thing as water, would you thirst?"  
  
"Yes, very much!"  
  
"That's not quite the answer I wanted! Let us try food instead, that should move you to think more carefully! Now... If food did not exist, and had never existed, would you be hungry?"  
  
"I would be dead!"  
  
The corner of Yasha's mouth twitched. Ashura had a devilish look. "But if you did not need food, would you be hungry?"  
  
"Well... I suppose not. But the world would be very dull... Oh! I see now!" The golden eyes brightened. "It is like love."  
  
"Yes! It is the very essence of love, Ashura. It is the One Love." Yasha took Ashura's hand tightly in his own as he continued. "When we love someone, we are actually seeing the God through them, as if through a clear glass. Behind all love is the One Love."  
  
Ashura turned to face him directly, eyes brimming. "Yasha. Is that what you see in me?"  
  
"...Yes. You are my God, Ashura."  
  
Ashura moved very suddenly, taking Yasha by surprise, silencing him abruptly with a passionate kiss. That perfect mouth, cool pink lips tasting a little of honey, covered Yasha's both tentatively yet knowingly. It moved Yasha like nothing ever had before in his life. As they slowly broke apart he began to tremble and looked away in confusion. Ashura regarded him uncertainly. "Yasha--? Is-- Did I do wrong?"  
  
Yasha turned back with resolve, holding the slender hands to his heart. "No. You did not do anything wrong. Ashura..." His words trailed off. It had been inevitable since he had first locked eyes with the spirit of this god thousands of years ago, yet he had all but forgotten that brief moment until now. He did not want to voice the sudden desire in him and how much it frightened him. He did not want Ashura to act upon anything other than Ashura's own desires. But this was the god he'd seen at the very beginning of it all, and the only god he'd ever wanted.  
  
Then, as Ashura kissed him again-- a clumsy, eager kiss-- he realized that Ashura had never forgotten. And they lay down with one another on their tattered old blanket under a rain of cherry blossoms.  
  
"Yasha. I have a secret."  
  
Which Ashura obviously wanted to tell. Yasha held his companion to his heart, brushing away stray locks of silken hair. "Tell me your secret," he whispered.  
  
Ashura drew a deep breath. Then, very shyly, looking away with a hint of a blush: "My father loved Taishaku-ten... And I remember... I remember..."  
  
Yasha nodded, not showing any surprise, and said nothing, only moving to press his mouth to Ashura's with surprising delicacy, tracing along those white teeth with his tongue, gently experimenting, then slowly proceeding to teach Ashura the finer arts of the kiss. Years ago he had noticed that even chaste kisses seemed to bring Ashura a strangely intense pleasure, which at the time he had thought more psychological than physical. Now he saw he had been wrong, that it was sensual bliss as well. It was remarkable, but he had heard of this kind of thing once before in his youth. His brother had spoken of a young man whose back had been broken in a fall. His loving wife, unable to please him any more in the usual ways, had learned to please him with kisses; and slowly his sense of erotic pleasure had transferred itself to the upper parts of his body. Yasha reasoned that Ashura must be in much the same situation-- forever unable to feel any physical pleasure at its ultimate source, but able to channel the feelings elsewhere, to equally sensitive places, like those beautiful pink lips.  
  
First lightly, then more deeply, they drank of one another, ceasing only when their lips and faces were almost too bruised and sensitive to touch any more. Quietly they rested together under the stars.  
  
"Yasha?"  
  
"Hm."  
  
"Please, take me. I know you want to."  
  
Yasha smiled slightly, wrapping Ashura closer, confident now of his self- control and enjoying the erotic contact of their bare skins. Ashura touched his body lightly, with some curiosity. Though they were used to each other's appearances, the sight of Yasha in such a highly excited state was rare.  
  
"Ashura, I have waited for you for thousands of years. But you are different than any other being. No one knows just how your body is made. It seems so fragile, dear one, just like a flower bud. I will not have you hurt by my lust." He rested his head on Ashura's chest, listening to the heartbeat of the War God. "And you must believe me, Ashura-- I could hurt you terribly! That is what I will always fear the most."  
  
"You would never hurt me, Yasha. That is what I know."  
  
Yasha was silent, shutting his eyes. Ashura's skin was so soft, pressing against him... Ashura lightly caressed his hair, then slid one hand between their bodies, exploring shyly with gentle fingertips. He lost himself nearly instantly and came face to face with the missing God, his cry ringing round from cliff to cliff for what seemed forever before worldly sight came back to his eyes and there was Ashura, resting beside him in the moonlight, eyes glowing. Still panting, Yasha reached for that delicate hand. "...Ashura!"  
  
Ashura pulled away a little and looked at him with wonder. "Is that all...?"  
  
Yasha chuckled low in his chest. "More than enough!"  
  
Ashura's bright eyes drifted thoughtfully. "If you were to be received by a woman, there would be baby Yashas!" The sudden idea brought both delight and deep sadness to Ashura's beautiful face.  
  
"Yes," said Yasha contentedly. "And you would be so jealous and so envious you would not even be able to speak!"  
  
"I would not!" said Ashura, moving to drop flat on Yasha's chest so abruptly that Yasha's breath was almost knocked out of him.  
  
"Oh, you would!" said Yasha, and began kissing his companion's swollen lips all over again, playfully rolling them over and over in the pale blossoms until Ashura was laughing with happiness, and every care they'd ever had was momentarily forgotten.  
  
* * *  
  
"So," said Ashura, ravenously devouring the boiled vegetable soup they had cooked for breakfast. "If love allows us to see the God, why does every yogin pride himself on celibacy?"  
  
Yasha finished a long drink of springwater and set his cup down with a sigh. "That is a very good question, Ashura, and it deserves a long answer which I am not qualified to give." He clambered to his feet, catching up Yamato.  
  
"Where are we going?" said Ashura.  
  
Yasha strode away without answering, toward the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake. He stood looking down into its depths as Ashura caught up to him. He fancied he could see the shadows of the lost village in the water. Then he shook himself, putting a hand on Ashura's shoulder. "I would like to stay here, Ashura."  
  
"I like it here. Only... there are no other people."  
  
"How do we know that? We have yet to look."  
  
* * *  
  
They found shelter in a natural cave. This mountainous land was a jumble of rocks and it was not difficult to find such nooks and crannies. There was plenty of firewood, and the wind usually blew the right way, so their faces were not filled with smoke. Up here, Ashura would have to eat roots and potherbs instead of mangoes and jungle fruits, but Yasha did not hear any complaints. On the contrary. Ashura seemed to have had a burden lifted, and smiled more, glancing sideways often. Yasha understood that Ashura had had a great dream fulfilled with only a kiss, and he made sure that he kissed Ashura often!  
  
There were people in this country-- nomads, mostly reindeer-herders. They met a large troupe one day towards the fall season, bringing their beasts south, past the great lake. A handful of these people looked like they might have Yasha clan blood. Had some of Yasha's people escaped...? No, he realized sadly. It was the old nomadic blood that, originally from farther south, had helped to found his clan, mixing with the god blood to make phenomenally strong people.  
  
They were not horrified to see Ashura, who was already, at this time of year, bundled in a silver wolf-pelt. They did not connect the lovely figure before them with the monstrous myths of the folk with whom they traded. Rather, they collectively took Ashura to be a phenomenally beautiful woman. Yasha called "her" Karuna. Ashura spent several days awkwardly turning down proposals despite Yasha's nearly silent presence. When two things became clear-- that Ashura really did not want the attentions of others, and was becoming embarrassed to the point of fright-- Yasha finally put a stop to it with a few well-chosen words to the tribe's chief. When the first snow came and the group finally decided to move on, they cheerfully left Ashura and Yasha with good-luck and fertility wishes, a pile of meat and hides, and a white reindeer for Ashura to ride on.  
  
As the days grew even shorter, the sun failed and a steady wet snow set in. On warmer days the lake was an ocean and water flowed everywhere, as it had after the Deluge, when Varaha, the Boar God, had lifted the earth from the cosmic ocean on His tusk.  
  
Ashura was miserable. Fresh potherbs such as fireweed and wild spinach were only a dream now, and food became an unvarying regimen of boiled roots, spiced with a few dried berries and fruits. Yasha looked on anxiously as his companion's thin body became still thinner. "Ashura, you must eat!" he would say, offering meat or fish; but Ashura still would not touch flesh.  
  
Then came a hard freeze. All the clouds vanished, and the stars shone bright with heavenly fire. One star shone brighter than any other. It rode low on the horizon, due South, and glittered like gold.  
  
Ashura stood shivering at the cave mouth, gazing at it wistfully. When Yasha came silently to drape a second pelt around the trembling shoulders, Ashura said: "My brother lives up there, Yasha. Sometimes I feel as if he is calling to me. I dream..."  
  
Yasha looked for long minutes at the great "star." Unlike the other stars, it did not move across the sky but stayed absolutely still.  
  
"We must go South again, Ashura. My country is no place for you in winter."  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha fashioned a sled out of wooden poles and piled it with what belongings they had-- mainly furs and dried and frozen foodstuffs. Hitching it to the white reindeer, he set Ashura, who was clothed in silver fox fur, sidesaddle on the animal's back. It seemed a good time for travel; the clouds had showed no sign of returning; the sun was bright and the air crystalline and friendly. As they started off, Ashura was visibly more cheerful, chatting about various topics and only falling silent once, when they passed their cherry tree, which now lay leafless and dormant under a drift.  
  
They had gone many miles and evening was drawing on when suddenly Yasha stopped, the reindeer almost butting him with its antlers. The sun was setting; the stars were coming out over the North; but Yasha's native instincts made him scan the landscape thoroughly. Pale clouds were moving over the western sky. He sniffed the air and smelled snow on the wind. He turned to Ashura quickly. "A storm is moving in. It's a very bad one. We must stop here and make a shelter, or we will be caught in it!"  
  
Ashura slid off the reindeer. "How will we make our shelter?"  
  
"We're still by the lake, and it is frozen solid. We will use that." Yasha drew Yamato. With a single easy blow of his Ki he sliced the ice down to the lakebed. Ashura smiled. Here was a use for Shurato which was nonviolent. The golden hilt appeared in midair as Ashura called the blade forth. Together the two quickly began to cut blocks of ice. Yasha kept glancing up at the sky. "We don't have much time. We must cut straight down and use the ice for the walls of our shelter... Ashura?"  
  
Ashura had stopped work and was standing, breath fogging, a dangerous sweat glistening on the fair brow. "I am tired already, Yasha!"  
  
Yasha cursed softly. "It is because you will not eat meat when there is no other food! Here--" He rummaged in his belt-bag, coming up with a chunk of cold cooked reindeer. Ashura turned away. Yasha caught the slim wrist. "Ashura!" His voice was dark, eye showing a glint of red. "How many times have you seen me angry at you?"  
  
"Never," said Ashura in a small voice.  
  
"I will be very angry at you if you do not eat this meat!"  
  
"But Yasha, I cannot! It will bring forth the Black Ashura!"  
  
"If you do not eat, you will only get weaker! Perhaps you will die and leave me alone here?"  
  
Ashura hesitated. Yasha pushed the food at his companion. "Eat!"  
  
Ashura took the meat with a sigh and a reproachful look at Yasha, and began to eat it, slowly. Yasha glanced at the sky for the thousandth time. The air was beginning to feel more restless. He cut down again into the ice, finishing a trench deep enough to shelter them, large enough for them to breathe, yet small enough to hold their body heat --without overmuch melting of the ice. It was an old science, perfected before there was a Yasha clan, and it was exacting. Fortunately the lessons of his youth had not left him. He cut a sleeping platform out of the ice as the first gust of wind blew his long black hair up, fanning it out like a peacock's train. "Ashura!" he said as he worked. "Get the sled and bring it here!"  
  
There was no reply. He turned and his throat missed Shurato's blade by half an inch.  
  
Yasha stood stock still. Ashura had been right; now it was himself that he cursed silently. Meat. Pain, blood, death-- even hints of these things were enough to revive the monster still dormant in Ashura's breast. As the wind blew again and a shower of ice pellets suddenly hit them, Black Ashura laughed. It was a sound he had hoped never to hear again, that he had sworn never to hear again-- deep, inhuman. Mad. Ashura was taunting him, could have killed him already a dozen times over. The golden eyes glowed with feral mindlessness.  
  
Yasha took a sudden yet calculated risk. He whipped Yamato up, knocking aside Shurato's blade. The two swords struck like a thunderclap and the white reindeer, terrified, began to run away with the sled which bore their only hope of survival. Fast as thought Yasha snatched Shurato up, the two swords held close together, singing in his hands as Black Ashura staggered backward. "Ashura! Ashura! ASHURA!"  
  
Suddenly Ashura turned and fled, running after the sled.  
  
Yasha hesitated. Without Shurato, Ashura could not survive or find the way back to their shelter in a snowstorm such as this. But with Shurato, Black Ashura would be dominant as long as the spell cast by the meat lasted, and there could be a much worse fate in store for them than merely freezing to death.  
  
Yasha could not leave their shelter with Yamato. The two swords were linked together, and in this weather Yamato would likely be their only guide back. But if Yasha left Yamato to guide them home, and took only Shurato with him, Black Ashura would remain uncontrolled.  
  
Yasha came to a decision as Ashura and reindeer faded into a featureless field of white. He simply kept Yamato in one hand and Shurato in the other and ran after his companion.  
  
The golden hilt of Shurato writhed in Yasha's grip like a captured snake wanting loose. He held her as tightly as he could, feeling his hand frozen on the knuckles, yet white-hot on the palm. As she continued to struggle against him, he touched her with Yamato's tip and she quieted. The snow was blowing straight in his face and he did not have a free hand to protect his one good eye, which was slowly freezing shut. The tracks he was following were being blown away too quickly. Heart sinking, he staggered on.  
  
He saw the sled first, then the reindeer. Ashura was wrestling it, teeth sunk in its throat. The scene could have been comical. Fortunately the tough hide prevented Ashura from doing much damage; but the few traces of fresh blood were not going to make things any better as far as the presence of Black Ashura was concerned.  
  
Yasha strode around the deer with long steps, dropped Shurato on the ground with Yamato atop her, and grasped Ashura by the nape of the neck. "Ashura!" he shouted above the wind. "If you do not come to your senses we will die!"  
  
Ashura growled like some jungle cat, and for a moment Yasha felt that he held a flaming tiger captive. Deliberately he stepped on both swords and embraced the feral creature as tightly as he could, so tightly the breath was forced from Ashura's body as a wall of snow hit them. For a moment they were engulfed in a blinding flame that leaped back from the surrounding ice crystals so brightly that Yasha's cold-seared eye began to flood with tears that froze nearly instantly on his lashes. He felt Ashura going limp in his arms and immediately released his stranglehold on the thin ribcage. When his companion began to breathe again, he was filled with relief.  
  
Yamato dropped downward by an inch, jolting them. Shurato had vanished. Ashura was regaining consciousness. "Yasha...? Yasha!"  
  
Black Ashura was fading. Yasha wasted no more time but bent to grab Yamato and felt his way to the sled, fumbling at the knotted ropes that held the pelts in place. He did not want to cut the precious rope except as a last resort. Ashura clung to him. "Yasha! I am sorry...!"  
  
"There is no time to be sorry! Help me, Ashura! I am snowblind!"  
  
But instead of the quick assistance he expected, he heard Ashura gasp in astonishment. "What is it?" he cried, trying to look but unable to see.  
  
Ashura's voice was soft, uncertain. "Ten-- Tenou?"  
  
"Ashura! You are dreaming! Help me!"  
  
He felt Ashura straighten boldly, pushing away from him but grabbing his hand. "Yasha. We must follow Tenou!"  
  
"He is not here!"  
  
"You can't see, Yasha! He is just ahead, waving at us! Come on!"  
  
There was no time left for any hesitation. Yasha sheathed Yamato with his free hand and took the reindeer's bridle, letting Ashura pull them on. If it was only a hallucination, Yasha and Ashura would die together painlessly. The world would be safe from Black Ashura. It would be all right. Yasha smiled without bitterness as he blindly followed his only beloved, and his death. He focused on the warmth of the hand in his, the memories of their short summer in the North. Ashura's happy laughter as they rolled over and over in cherry blossoms and meadow flowers. The kiss of the God. No nightmares. It had been good.  
  
Then Ashura let go of his hand and Yasha fell straight down, landing on snow-covered ice and nearly breaking his bones. He had released the reindeer reflexively just as he'd fallen, narrowly avoiding bringing the animal down on top of him. He sat up, unbelieving, feeling the walls of the shelter he had cut in the lake ice. "Ashura!"  
  
"I am sorry, Yasha!" came the other's voice, from above him. "I came on it without seeing it!"  
  
"Here is Yamato! Cut the deer from the sled! Put the sled across the hole, then get down here!"  
  
"I will! I'll hurry!"  
  
Yasha sat still and anxious, listening intently. He heard Ashura working; heard the snap of the reindeer's traces as they were cut; heard Ashura's voice faintly, talking to self-- or to someone else up there. Finally he heard Ashura scrambling down to him and they sat huddled together, wrapped in one anothers' arms. "Ashura! You led us back!"  
  
"No." Ashura's teeth were chattering. "No, it was my brother!"  
  
"But how could it be? How could it be, Ashura?"  
  
"Tenou spoke to me. He said he had been watching over us. He said he wanted us to live."  
  
Yasha said nothing more, only pushing his face into Ashura's hair, drawing deep breaths of that familiar sweet scent. Above them, the storm howled on, burying them under a veil of ghostly white. 


	5. Journey to Heaven

Chapter 4: Journey to Heaven  
  
The storm lasted through that night, the next day, and part of the next night. Then, in the early morning, the wind abated quite suddenly, but when Ashura scrambled up to look, the snow had all but sealed them in.  
  
Ashura dropped down by Yasha. "Give me Yamato."  
  
Yasha, his eye covered by a bandage fashioned from the hem of his robe, handed over the sword. "Do not make too large an opening yet, Ashura. We do not need a draft."  
  
"Hm!" Ashura hefted Yamato with great respect as well as great effort. The blade was very heavy compared to Shurato's translucent fire; but since the reappearance of Black Ashura, Shurato was better left dormant for awhile.  
  
Ashura touched Yamato mentally, calling the sword, and almost dropped it on Yasha's head at its ready reply. Gently Ashura thrust it straight up. Its white light struck the snow and ice and vaporized a small hole. Ashura peered through. "Yasha. The stars are shining!"  
  
"Is the air steady, Ashura?"  
  
"I cannot tell the air like you can. The stars do not twinkle, if that's what you are asking."  
  
Yasha reached wordlessly for Yamato and Ashura handed it back, then slid down to rest at Yasha's side. "How is your eye now?"  
  
"I must wear this bandage for a few days, and whenever the sun shines brightly on the snow, or it will happen again." Yasha sniffed the faint cold current drifting down to them. "The air is good. We should be able to travel on in the morning."  
  
They sat together quietly.  
  
"Yasha? I dreamed of Tenou again."  
  
"I know you did, love. You talked in your sleep."  
  
Ashura sighed heavily. "I cannot rest until I know if... if my brother forgives... I am so tired of running away from that, Yasha."  
  
"Ashura! If he did not forgive, he would have left us to die out here!"  
  
"Maybe. But... That witch was with him again. The one who hates me. I don't understand it."  
  
"Ashura, can she truly hate someone she has never known?"  
  
"Can Tenou love someone who killed his mother before his eyes? She was good enough to him, Yasha."  
  
Yasha was silent again after that.  
  
"Yasha. When I go to meet my brother, I think you should not come with me. In case he really is still angry."  
  
"I cannot promise you that. We keep together."  
  
"But I don't want you in danger!"  
  
"Danger comes when we are separated. I will bring you to Tenou, if that is your wish. I know the ways of the Emporer's court. I served Taishakuten for many years."  
  
* * *  
  
The sun was shining brilliantly, needles of its light piercing the frozen lake, when Ashura woke up again. Yasha was already awake. Perhaps he had not slept. He did not say, but turned his head as he felt Ashura stirring in his arms. "It will be a fine day," he said softly.  
  
"The sun is shining so brightly, Yasha!" Ashura dug a dried root from a belt pouch and began eating ravenously.  
  
Yasha lifted Ashura from his lap and arose, feeling his way to the opening of the ice shelter. He climbed up, knocking more snow loose with both arms. It rained down in a shower of glitter as he bulled his way out. Ashura followed on his heels, blinking.  
  
The drifts above their shelter were six feet high. Ashura guided Yasha to the snowbound sled and they cleaned it off together. Yasha paused to tear another strip from the hem of his brown robe. "Ashura. You must not go snowblind too, or we will be helpless. Use my dagger to cut slits in this to see through, and tie it over your eyes."  
  
Ashura did as bidden, sighing with relief as the piercing brightness of the snowscape was blunted a little.  
  
They hauled the sled out at last, still laden with all its contents safe, but Ashura's white reindeer lay frozen nearby under a second drift. Yasha took the shafts of the sled and began to haul it along without a word. Ashura led him.  
  
* * *  
  
The mountainous Northlands were very rocky, and once they had left the luxury of the lake, they struggled through deep drifts, navigating by the sun and Yasha's descriptions of the landmarks. The going got even more difficult as the day went on, and Yasha had to often rest, taking off one layer of pelts to prevent from breaking into a potentially fatal sweat. Ashura, too, was having problems, with the deerhide footwear Yasha had made the previous fall as a practical gift. Unused to travelling shod, Ashura had sore and chilled feet and began to limp. At last they made camp in the lee side of a magnificent, straight-sided boulder, setting up their crude shelter of hides and sticks and anchoring it to the rocks.  
  
The next day was no easier as they neared the pass that would bring them down from the realm of Alaka into warmer climes. But that night the moon was full, and after they had a small fire going at the door of their shelter, Ashura carefully removed the bandage on Yasha's eye. His eyelashes were crusted shut, and he instructed Ashura to moisten a clean piece of linen, salvaged from a worn out tunic. He held it over his eye for awhile, feeling Ashura hovering around him in anxious suspense. "Patience," he said calmly. "Do not be worried."  
  
At last he removed the cloth and opened his eye, facing away from the fire. For a time it stung so that tears blinded him, and Ashura hovered even more closely, dabbing them from his face. But at last he smiled, and looked up at his companion. "Ashura. You do not look very strong right now!"  
  
It was true, but Ashura did not care. Long white arms flung themselves around Yasha's broad shoulders. "Yasha...!"  
  
"It's all right, beloved. I told you snow blindness is not permanent. I saw much of it in the North when I was young." Yasha stroked Ashura's hair. "Young hunters would go out on a bright day and forget, and at the noon they were already feeling the sun burning their eyes. But I will not be able to travel without my bandage until we are out of the snowfields-- so you must still be my guide, and be careful of your own beautiful eyes!"  
  
* * *  
  
They crossed the pass in two days' time, and began the long downhill trek into warmer lands. Ashura quickly wished they were back in the snow, for a bone-chilling rain poured relentlessly down on them as they forced their way along a dangerously deserted road through pine forests. At least Yasha was able to discard the bandage, and his eye completed its healing quickly. But the sled was no longer an option, and they had to stop and fashion packs, discarding some of their goods.  
  
Ashura found cedar trees, and peeled the surface bark to get at the edible layer beneath. It was not so good this time of year, but it was something. Fern roots were soon boiling along with cattail roots in their cooking-pot each night, and the beautiful form of Heaven's last fire demon began to regain a little more of its old strength, if not any more mass. Yasha was happy to cook for his companion and Ashura was insatiable. When they came to the first small town, Yasha traded a precious white fox fur for lodging and a large pot of vegetable stew, which Ashura thought was ambrosia itself. It was enough to feed five men and it lasted the two of them less than twenty four hours. Yasha frowned. "You were starving, there in the North! I neglected you!"  
  
"No," said Ashura, after draining the last of the broth and wiping those irresistible lips with the back of one hand. "Not starving. Just hungry. Ahh... When we get to the jungle lands, Yasha, let us find mangoes and jackfruits and spinach and buy a whole sack of rice! And get prasad from the temples, of modakas with the best jaggery and sugar cane too! Then we will have a feast indeed!"  
  
Yasha laughed out loud at this stream of suggestions, and indeed the nearer the jungle they came, the happier both were, despite it being the rainy season and the roads being little more than a sea of mud. They found a Shiva temple on the edge of the great river and worshipped there in disguise, and were given their prasad.  
  
When they had first emerged from the shell of the old Zenmijou, two thousand years since they had last been in the real world, Yasha had been amazed at the way in which Ashura had changed the landscape of the temples. In the time of Yasha's youth, Indra had been the King of Heaven and His worship, the state religion. Taishakuten was His avatar, the God of Thunder. But as Taishakuten's reign had become one of terror, and rumours that the last Ashura could be a savior had made the rounds, rebellion had caused the private worship of the form of Shiva Mahadeva, God of Destruction, instead. Now Indra was merely a memory, and there were two main sects in the land: Mahadeva's, which was not as widespread as it had been, and Vishnu's. Vishnu was the Preserver aspect of the God, well suited to the new Emporer Tenou and, for those who did not look too deeply, the opposite of Mahadeva.  
  
Ashura and Yasha went as deep into the forest as they could. But as soon as they had found a place to settle comfortably, the nightmares began again.  
  
Two nights in a row brought Ashura a vivid dream of the familiar woman who was so full of hatred. Yasha asked Ashura to describe her in full detail, and it sounded far too much like the woman he had met in the forest more than a year earlier. He had not told Ashura of the encounter, or the bargain struck; but as the realization of what he had done began to sink in fully, he found himself quietly horrified. He kept his feelings to himself, though Ashura was perceptive.  
  
"Yasha... My brother... he is in all these dreams as well. They are always together. He is kind, and she is cruel. I have to meet him again. I have to have an answer!"  
  
"I think..." Yasha said slowly, "I think that they are sending this particular thought to you, Ashura. I think they do want us to come to them, and do not want us stopping here like this."  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha and Ashura took a fast, straight path across the land, cutting their way through the jungle with Yamato, following the golden star that they knew to be the capital of Emporer Tenou. High in the heavens it drifted, shining by day and night as they drew ever closer. As the land became more settled, they were forced to take to a main road, Ashura leading the way. It took them almost a week of travel to reach the great human-inhabited city of Lower Zenmijou, and when they passed in disguise through the tall arch of the North Gate it was like entering another kind of forest. It had been many years since either Yasha or Ashura had been in such a crowd and it almost took away their breaths. Yasha led, pushing forward through busy streets with relentless determination as Ashura's eyes were caught now by this, now by that. Pausing at midday to eat a steaming vegetarian pasty that was indeed fit for gods, they let themselves wander through a bazaar.  
  
The city was very fair, at least for a human habitation, and dotted with many tree-filled parks. Dhoti-clad yogins sat here and there; white cattle grazed and wandered where they would. There were large tanks to bathe in and fresh springs to drink from. Once Ashura stepped into cow dung. After washing both feet in a nearby pool, Ashura set out again for the center of the city, brisk and embarrassed, dragging Yasha behind.  
  
At last they found themselves directly beneath the floating city of the gods. Golden vimanas flew to and from it like bees to some magical hive. Ashura gazed upward, awestricken. "Yasha...! How are we ever...?"  
  
"We send a message to a vimana," Yasha said.  
  
It was easier said than done. The humans told Yasha the flying cars rarely landed but went on to other celestial destinations. The closest anyone could come to the Emporer was on the traditional birthday festival, when Tentei Tenou would speak personally with the human elders, addressing their needs and concerns.  
  
They took modest shelter for the night in the house of a respectful Saivite brahmana of excellent repute, taking the terrible chance of revealing their identities. The brahmana and his wife showered them with worship, food and gifts, and Ashura removed an old ear cuff-- plain, but beautifully made of hammered gold-- and gave it to them kindly. Yasha thought the pair would faint on the spot. Finally Yasha and Ashura retired to their small room. Their hosts were so overwhelmed and excited Yasha felt the news of their arrival would soon leak out. He also knew Ashura was very worried, and cradeled his loved one in his arms like a little child. "Do not fret," he whispered, slowly stroking the glossy dark head. "The way will be made clear for us."  
  
"Yasha... What if... What if this is some kind of trap? We cannot escape this place without hurting, without killing..."  
  
"This is no trap. That may come later, but I do not think Tenou will hurt his people the way his father did."  
  
"How... How do you know?"  
  
"I just know. That is all." And gently, gently, he rocked Ashura to sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
The way materialized very unexpectedly the next morning. It was not a welcome one. Gazing out of the room where they had spent the night, Yasha saw a woman waiting outside some distance away. She was looking fixedly at him, and after a moment he realized with a terrible shock that it was the miko, Shukidevi, who had retrieved Shurato.  
  
He wanted nothing more than to fade from her sight, but Ashura, bunched-up tunic hanging loosely around slender neck, was already tugging on his arm. "Come on, Yasha! We must find a vimana somehow today!"  
  
Yasha turned back with a smile and a sick heart. "Ashuraa!" He tugged Ashura's clothes down over the graceful white body, pulling first one arm through its loose sleeve, then the other. "You cannot go naked here just because it is warm! Silly!" Quickly gathering their items they entered the main house, Yasha's mind racing as he thanked their host for a breakfast wrapped in banana leaves. The miko was still waiting. Yasha caught her attention from a window, gesturing for her to move away. She retired just behind a mud-brick wall.  
  
Fortunately, Ashura was easily distracted, especially after all these years in the forest. After they left their host's dwelling with many thanks and repeated goodbyes, Yasha pointed out a pair of elephants being prodded through the crowded streets by their mahouts. Though Ashura had seen wild elephants before, at a distance, this was something new. "Look! It is Ganesh up close, Ashura! This is indeed auspicious!" As Ashura turned to him like an excited child, Yasha put what little money they had left in his companion's hand. "Go make an offering for us! Wish us luck and success on our quest, Ashura!"  
  
"Hai!" And Ashura was off and running, remembering to hold the hood of the disguising cloak up over those pointed ears, shadowing those golden eyes.  
  
Yasha strode quickly out to where Shukidevi waited. No one else was around, and he silently blessed the common sense of the brahmana and his wife, who despite their emotions had somehow kept a rein on their mouths. "Has Tenou sent you?" he demanded. "Are you the one responsible for Ashura's nightmares?"  
  
"Tenou has sent me, and, yes, we are responsible for Ashura's dreams, but not the nightmares. Those are only what Ashura's mind makes of the dreams. You want to go to the new Zenmijou, to meet the Emporer, yes?"  
  
"Yes," Yasha said, both cautious and startled.  
  
"I will make arrangements with my driver."  
  
"Miko--"  
  
"Please call me by my name. Wait here."  
  
He blinked, scanning the space where she'd been. Perhaps it was only his faulty vision, but suddenly he could not see her anywhere.  
  
A low roar, like an ocean wave muffled on rocks, distracted him. He turned quickly to see the crowd surging around the elephants.  
  
Ashura! What was going on? Yasha trotted, then ran toward the scene. As he drew nearer he was nearly knocked down by men fleeing the other direction.  
  
If the situation hadn't had been so dangerous, Yasha would have smiled fondly. Ashura stood, mortified, before a curious she-elephant whose trunk had delicately pulled away the cloak which covered Ashura's ears. The crowd, recognizing the legendary "Demon of Zenmijou" come back to life, was in a state of complete confusion. Some were fleeing; some staring; a few were advancing with weapons in their hands. The elephant, sensing her mahout's dismay, was backing up, shaking her head from side to side.  
  
Yasha drew Yamato and strode quickly to Ashura's side. Ashura, he knew, would not fight even in self-defense.  
  
Things could have quickly gone from bad to worse had not a shadow above suddenly blocked out the sun. A wind from nowhere roared over them so that Ashura clung to Yasha and their black hair streamed together in a wild tangle behind them. "Yasha!" cried Ashura. "Vimana!" Yasha did not reply, only holding tightly to both Ashura and Yamato. If Shukidevi were somehow aboard that aerial car, Ashura would surely recognize her from those dreams, and Yasha could not predict what might happen then.  
  
But Shukidevi was nowhere to be seen, though Yasha somehow still sensed her presence nearby and wondered at it. Ashura seemed oblivious to all but the chariot. As the shining, bell-shaped craft descended in a rush of heat and fire, the two elephants trumpeted and fled with their cursing mahouts. The crowd fell back as the aircraft landed; a silence came over them as the door opened and the pilot appeared. She was clad in golden armor and wore curious white goggles. On one shoulder she bore the emblem of a winged serpent. "Yasha-ou!" she said. "Emporer Tenou bids you come to Upper Zenmijou!"  
  
Yasha and Ashura found themselves glancing at each other for permission. Then Ashura stepped forward bravely. "We wish to come! Please, take us there!"  
  
The woman gestured them up a small ramp into the surprisingly spacious vehicle. Ashura found a comfortable couch next to a small window, and Yasha settled close beside, bending down to watch as the the door closed and they were sealed in. He whispered in Ashura's ear. "Now, if there is a trap, it will come soon. Stay close to me, and watch carefully!"  
  
There was a sudden roar and Ashura flinched. Yasha's hand closed tightly on the thin shoulder. But it was only the vimana rising again from the ground. Fascinated despite themselves, both travellers watched through the window as they climbed into the sky with surprising rapidity. In only moments, the city below looked like an anthill. Yasha, who had always had both feet firmly on the ground, felt himself go unexpectedly faint. He kept his grip on Ashura tight, reminding himself of the sole reason for his existence. Then Ashura suddenly brought him back with a sharp tug on his hair and a kiss to his cheek. "It's all right, Yasha! This thing can fly like a bird!"  
  
Yasha tried to shake off his vertigo. The new city of Zenmijou was coming rapidly closer. Only as they came nearer did he appreciate the size of it, and he wondered what strange magics kept it floating so in the sky. A transparent honeycomb of some wondrous glass half-surrounded it, and he was reminded of the tip of some strange plant, a horsetail perhaps, rising above the mist. The sun struck the glass even sharper than snow, and splinters of light lodged in his now photosensitive eye, but he could not bring himself to look away. It was said that Tenou had utilized the construction talents of Maya to build his city; but Maya had been an Ashura, the architect of Heaven long, long ago, so that story had to be impossible.  
  
Blue, and gold, and the brilliant white of clouds. These were the colors of the Emporer's city. It was the size of a small mountain. The other vimanas flying to and fro began to come close enough to appreciate. They were of varying shapes. Most were bell-shaped, such as the one they were riding in; but a very few were long and cylindrical, looking a bit, he thought humorously, like flying Shiva lingas. Those aircraft moved more slowly. Then there were a few, a very few, fancy ones made like birds, with stationary wings. At first he mistook them for the birds of the Karura clan, for some were white; then he wondered if perhaps the Karura clan was now using vimanas instead of the real thing. Even the painful thought of Karura-ou could not induce him to close his eye as the wondrous vehicles flew past, never too close.  
  
They took an easy turn leftward. Ashura's nose pressed to the window. Yasha took this opportunity to shake off the rest of his stupor and look all around them, before, behind, above. There were several other couches with window seats in their vimana. All were empty. Below his feet, the floor vibrated fiercely, but the noise of the fire was well below what he would have expected. The pilot was in another room, he thought; above them. He could hear snatches of her talking, and wondered how many others might be up there. That, he decided, was where any immediate trouble would most likely come from.  
  
"Ahh..." said Ashura. "This vimana reminds me of the Kendappa city. That was so long ago!"  
  
"Yes, Ashura... Except that city was so large, one did not know that one was flying!"  
  
"Are you all right now, Yasha? I wish this could go on forever!"  
  
"Yes, love, I am all right... But I wish my feet were back on the ground!"  
  
"Hmf!" said Ashura, and went back to watching out the window. In the brief moments of their exchange, the city had come close enough to see in detail. There were several places where various vimanas were landing or taking off, but they were not headed toward any of these. Rather, they were going toward what appeared to be a narrow opening two or three tiers above the rest of the traffic. They passed the glittering glasslike barrier and began to slow. The narrow opening revealed itself as a huge dark cavern; they passed inside, and suddenly began getting brief glimpses of people, as tiny as insects. Then the fire below their feet subsided; the noise was reduced to a hum, and there was the softest of bumps as they were set down very gently on a scarred and polished floor.  
  
Ashura, eyes huge, turned quickly to Yasha. "We are here already! We are going to meet my brother! I did not dream it could be so soon!" The joy of the flight had turned into terror at what might come next.  
  
"Ashura. No matter what happens, you must stay steady and strong. Remember our promise!"  
  
They had no time to talk further. The pilot had joined them. She was speaking into a small box she held in her hand, but it was a language they could not understand. It must be a mantra, thought Yasha. She nodded and beckoned to them, then walked forward and unbolted the door.  
  
Yasha and Ashura had come back to Zenmijou after thousands of years of waiting and wandering through war and fire and death-- back to their origins, their hopes, and their fears. 


	6. The Lord of Three Worlds

Chapter 5: The Lord of Three Worlds  
  
Yasha loomed over Ashura like a dangerous shadow as they stepped out of the vimana. There was a small crowd of gods moving to and fro, but no faces he knew; those had passed away with time-- or the destruction Ashura had wrought more than two thousand years before.  
  
They walked side by side along a gracefully curved causeway, led on by the pilot in golden armor. Ashura slowed suddenly, turning a little toward Yasha, and whispered fiercely, "Let go of my arm!"  
  
Yasha said nothing, but his iron grip remained firm. Yamato hung at his side as he surveyed their surroundings carefully with his one good eye. These gods had every reason to want Ashura dead. As a troupe of armed guards fell in unobtrusively behind them, he was beginning to wish that he had never succumbed to Ashura's pleading, never brought them here.  
  
Ashura was so nervous and edgy that Yasha could barely keep his companion's attention. "Look there!" he said, pointing at a great open hanging garden in the center of the city. A waterfall fell from it to splash into a pool a hundred feet below. White peacocks could be seen perched on golden branches, and flowers drifted downward, cast by lovers. The vision kept Ashura calm for all of ten seconds.  
  
"Ashura," murmured Yasha, aware that those demon-ears could pick up the faintest whisper. "If you do not settle down, you will surely ruin your audience with the Emporer."  
  
Ashura shot him a look just short of murder. The perfect pink lips formed a phrase: Will you please let go of me Now! Yasha pretended he had not understood and waited stoically for a well-aimed kick. It was amazing how strong Ashura was and how much those bare feet could hurt. He had learned that ages ago, when Ashura was still a child and throwing tantrums not unlike the one which was about to erupt right now. But Ashura maintained some restraint, the fair face only whipping abruptly away from him, chin held high. In any other situation, Yasha would have been amused. This time, however, he pulled Ashura closer still, his eye barely tinged with red. "Ashura! This is life and death! I am trying to protect you! Listen to me!"  
  
Ashura did not acknowledge the sentence. A thousand emotions were passing across that face, the predominant one, fear.  
  
They passed beneath the floating gardens and down a long hallway festooned with guards in red velvet. The charioteer stopped the party before a tall pair of golden doors. "This is the audience room," she announced. "You will wait here until Tentei Tenou is ready to see you." With that, she left... and Yasha's sense of the miko, Shukidevi, left with her. He glanced back over his shoulder in surprise.  
  
Ashura was still trying to squirm out of his grasp. Yasha decided to let his ward go, and was surprised that his grip had left deep red welts in the fine white skin of Ashura's upper arm. "Ashura," he said. "I am sorry."  
  
"I do not need your help now!" Ashura hissed. Yasha knew better than to say any more, and merely kept close, all senses more watchful than ever. After awhile they were let into a waiting chamber. But when the final door opened after an interminable period of time, it was Yasha who was first beckoned inside, alone.  
  
Ashura's face flooded with shock, but Yasha returned the sternest of looks before vanishing. Ashura looked around wildly. The half dozen guards looked as terrified as Ashura felt. After a moment's hesitation, Ashura sank to bare knees on a nearby cushion, restraining a sob with the greatest of effort. The nightmare was coming true.  
  
* * *  
  
Emporer Tenou sat on his golden throne, and Yasha knelt on the steps at his feet. They were viewing Ashura through a glass hidden from Ashura's sight by a veil. Tenou's introduction to Yasha had been kind but cursory; he was focused intently on his twin. "My brother is a beautiful creature," Tenou said finally. "I think I have never seen anyone so beautiful, except long ago..." He fell painfully silent.  
  
"Ashura is not male," Yasha said quietly.  
  
"I know. Not female either, or so the legend goes. But the least I can do is use an honorific. "Prince Ashura." Why do you not honor my brother, Yasha-ou?"  
  
"I do honor Ashura. I honor Ashura as my god, as my life. But not as man or woman, Tentei. Ashura is truly neither."  
  
Ashura was sitting quietly, looking down at the floor, resigned to what might come; but Yasha could still see tension-- Black Ashura crawling beneath the pale skin-- and he knew whatever happened to him would determine the fate of Tenou.  
  
"Well," the Emporer said at last. He was tall, with full flowing red hair and pleasant yet penetrating eyes. Yasha saw much of his father in him, but much was very different as well. And despite his handsomeness, Tenou was Ashura's absolute opposite, as the day to the night-- settled, harboring no hidden darkness. "What shall I do with you two? I cannot have you running loose like tigers in the forest. That is why I had my miko Shuki call you to me. Yet, if I keep you here, the people will be divided."  
  
Yasha thought carefully before speaking. "You could have let us die in that snowstorm... yet you saved us. I cannot imagine that the Sons of Aditi were pleased."  
  
"The Council does not know, and you will not mention it again. But I did not want my brother to die without having a chance to meet him."  
  
"You saw what took place at the old Zenmijou two thousand years ago. Ashura suicided rather than kill me."  
  
"It was a near thing."  
  
"It was a near thing." Yasha nodded.  
  
"How came he to life again?"  
  
"Kujaku took pity on us. He bought a miracle with his own blood."  
  
"Ah...! That is why he has disappeared!" Tenou sighed. "Kujaku was part Mazoku, but he was also my friend, Yasha-ou."  
  
"He was dear to us as well. And, he was also a Hoshimi." Yasha's face was dark. "Ashura woke to the sight of Kujaku dying."  
  
"But why should Kujaku take pity on you? Why should he do such a thing?"  
  
Yasha hesitated, looking at Tenou strangely. "I waited two thousand years for Ashura's resurrection, Tentei... and Kujaku watched over us all that time. He must have spoken to you of your twin many times. Ashura is my sworn companion!"  
  
"Your sworn companion?"  
  
"How could you not know of this?" Yasha was genuinely curious. The "Story of Death and Destruction," as their legend was known in the little village near the old Zenmijou, was widespread  
  
"I want to know what it means," Tenou said with great frankness. "Are you lovers?"  
  
"Ashura is my only beloved," Yasha said almost helplessly, feeling a traitorous hint of color in his face. "We are wedded by Gandharva rite." Then he caught Tenou's look and knew that the Emporer had only been testing him. Yasha glanced away sheepishly, deeply embarrassed, but Tenou smiled kindly. "If you will speak of your love for my own brother in front of me, if you will admit you are wedded to him by Gandharva rite without anyone's permission, you are true indeed, Yasha-ou. But again... What shall I do with you?"  
  
Yasha drew a deep breath. "You have two choices. Either kill us, or let us be. And it would not be intelligent to kill me, for I am Death, and where would you be then? When the time comes, I will take care of all."  
  
"How will you take care of 'all?'"  
  
"We made a promise to one another that we would be together always. I intend to keep it."  
  
"But when you are old? When you really do die, and Death is no more, unless you have an heir?"  
  
"I said, I intend to keep my promise."  
  
"You are planning to kill Ashura with your own hands?!"  
  
"Best at the hands of a loved one. Also, no one else is capable. Perhaps not even you, Tentei. But I can promise you this. I will not let the Dark Ashura loose upon Tenkai a second time."  
  
Silence.  
  
"It is the sword, Yamato," Yasha explained. "Kujaku foresaw all which would happen. He forged this sword ages past, and gave him to the Yasha clan. Yamato is the mate of Shurato, and he can control her-- and her bearer."  
  
Tenou frowned. "What is this? If Yamato can control Shurato, why didn't you use it when Black Ashura was first loosed upon us?"  
  
"I did not know how to control Shurato until it was too late."  
  
"Kujaku was, as you say, Hoshimi as well as Mazoku. I will tell you the circumstances of his birth, if you do not know it already."  
  
"I know it." Yasha bowed his head, remembering his two thousand year wait... Remembering Kujaku coming to him with food, medicine, clothing, news... That irritating manner, but the warmth... Suddenly he shut his eyes, pushing old memories aside ruthlessly. Despite everything the stargazer had done for him, he must forget Kujaku.  
  
Tenou persisted and Yasha wondered briefly how much he knew. "Why did he not train you in the use of that sword? Why did he allow the destruction of the old Zemijou? Why did he allow all the death?"  
  
"I don't know," Yasha said honestly. It was a question he had asked the winged one many times. "I cannot understand it. Ashura loved Kujaku and that love was returned truly. Kujaku surely had a reason and motives of his own... Perhaps it was an assignment from gods higher than us."  
  
Tenou was silent for a long time. Then: "We must speak more of our old friend sometime, Yasha-ou. As for you... I remember you well. You were in my father's service. You were loyal until asked to do the unreasonable, and have always been respected in Tenkai. Guards! Prepare to close the curtain and allow Prince Ashura to enter!"  
  
"Tentei," Yasha said suddenly, bowing at the Emporer's feet so his forehead rested against the cold stone steps, his hair falling down around him. "For Ashura's sake, I beg for mercy. Have mercy! Be kind to Ashura, who has known such hardship!" His voice broke on the last words.  
  
Tenou rose quickly, drawing Yasha to his feet. "Do not beg, Yasha-ou," he said quietly. "It is unseemly of you."  
  
"Ashura has shed a river of tears since the destruction of your father's city. You cannot imagine it."  
  
"I cannot?"  
  
Yasha shook his head mutely. Tenou nodded, looked past him and signalled the guards.  
  
"I should leave now, Tentei. Ashura has waited for this moment for a very a long time."  
  
"Go, then. I have had quarters prepared for you, but I would imagine you might like to wait outside for now. My servants will bring you refreshments."  
  
Yasha bowed respectfully, walking backward toward the door as it opened and Ashura came half-running in, stopping abruptly on the threshold with a look of pure terror. Yasha turned, gave Ashura's shoulder a quick hard squeeze, brushed past and was gone. The guards were dismissed. Ashura was alone with the Emporer.  
  
Tenou did not say a word in greeting and did not smile, but sat staring at his sibling impassively, giving Ashura the first move. At the Emporer's stony silence, whatever Ashura had been prepared to say evaporated. The long legs quivered; the stricken eyes brimmed with tears. Ashura collapsed on the floor under Tenou's gaze, prostrate and sobbing.  
  
Tenou had never imagined this. Giving up the emotionless facade, he quickly knelt by the pale form. "Ashura. Prince Ashura."  
  
The Prince, having caught hiccups, looked up slowly. A huge tear was poised right on the end of Ashura's nose, which was running. Tenou took the hem of his velvet robe and wiped his sibling's face. Without thinking, Ashura grasped the fine cloth and blew "his" nose in it-- then started back in horror at the deed. "Oh! Tenou-- Tentei, I am sorry, I am so sorry... for everything..."  
  
Tenou had seen in a moment why the proud Yasha-ou had been reduced to abject begging, and was already beginning to understand the two Ashuras who together made his twin. "I know. I know you are. Don't be afraid. I forgive you. I forgive you..." Tears stinging his own eyes, he gathered the trembling bundle into his arms, hugging Ashura tightly to his breast. "I forgive you!"  
  
"Brother-- forgives--" was all the speech Ashura could manage after that for a long time as another flood of tears burst forth. This was the Ashura that bothYasha and Kujaku knew and loved, not the one Tenou remembered. The Emporer stroked the silken black hair, whispered into the shell-shaped ear. "I know you didn't mean it. I know our mother did her best to murder you. I know the curse that was laid upon you. I know it wasn't you who destroyed my father's house. I know these things... I know... Yasha told me about your friend, Kujaku. Kujaku was my friend too, and he told me all about you, Ashura."  
  
When Ashura finally looked up again, sniffing a little, the golden eyes held a dawning hope, a hint of a dreamscape long thought only a fantasy. Tenou smiled tenderly. "All is forgiven." Then he looked somewhere beyond Ashura's shoulder, looking, perhaps, into the future, a frown of concern creasing his handsome features. It passed quickly. He drew back a little more to see his sibling's face, looking closely into those liquid eyes-- and loving everything he saw there. After a long moment during which a difficult decision was quietly made in his heart, he said: "Will you and Yasha stay here in Zenmijou with me, Ashura?"  
  
Ashura, who had missed Tenou's hesitation completely, smiled brilliantly-- a brilliant joy that made Tenou feel partially vindicated. "--Yes! Oh, yes, brother Tenou-- may I call you brother--?"  
  
"Of course!" Tenou rose, lifting Ashura to unsteady feet. "Are you all right?"  
  
Ashura rubbed both eyes with fists like a child. "Yes. Now."  
  
"Why don't I have my servants show you and Yasha to your new dwelling. It's a nice place, by the Peacock Garden. You can rest and eat. I think you would like some food?"  
  
"Oh, yes, brother!"  
  
Tenou's eyes sparkled. "Kujaku told me you were a piglet!" He tugged a strand of Ashura's hair playfully. Ashura smiled uncertainly. Tenou walked his sibling to the door, an arm still around Ashura's shoulders. He could feel the sudden leaping of Ashura's heart in unexpected joy. When they came into the anteroom, Yasha stood immediately from where he had been seated on the same cushion Ashura had rested on earlier in despair. The tall Guardian of the North bowed deeply and gracefully, with the air of long practice.  
  
"Yasha-ou!" Tenou said cheerfully. "I'm very grateful for your bringing my brother to me at last. You and Ashura have all my blessings. If you wish to wed formally, you will now have the chance to do so. There are some brahmanas here who would love to meet you. Now, go with my servants; eat, rest! It's been a long day for Ashura." He released his sibling and Ashura, after one last shy smile at Tenou, rushed into Yasha's arms.  
  
As Yasha and Ashura were shown down the Hall of Roses by the Peacock Garden, Yasha's eye was bright. He had never hoped for Ashura to receive such genuine and unreserved welcome. Ashura was uncharacteristically silent, gliding by his side with composure mostly regained. Yasha was not certain what to say, if anything. At last he murmured: "Ashura. Your manners need work. You are to back away from the Emporer, not turn away."  
  
Ashura winced and blushed.  
  
"And did you bow to him?" Yasha continued, with ruthless humor.  
  
"...No. I fainted."  
  
"Good enough!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Yasha, look at this! And this! And what is this...?"  
  
Yasha chuckled, low and deep in his chest. Ashura had almost turned back into the child he remembered from ages past-- darting here and there despite being too tired, overwhelmed with the magnificence of their palatial residence. At the moment Ashura was pointing to a prism skylight; before that, it had been the bed, large enough to sleep four comfortably on silk sheets; and before that, it had been the fine drapery overhanging the large window which looked just down on the Hall of Roses and beyond that, the Peacock Garden. "That is a sun-catcher. Come here, Ashura, eat your food and sleep, or you will become sick."  
  
Ashura trotted back to the sumptuous red and gold floor cushions. Yasha was quietly sampling each exotic dish the servants had just brought. Not everyone was as happy to see them as Tenou; he had noted the servants' frightened glances in Ashura's direction. Yasha trusted Tenou, but he did not trust the servants, and he had told Ashura the food was still too hot to eat while in reality he tasted each dish first in case of poison. But the food-- all vegetarian, as he had carefully instructed-- was good, in fact it was indeed the food of gods, and he watched Ashura's expression turn to pure astonishment at the taste of this ambrosia. "I have never eaten such wonderful food in my life!" Ashura said after a moment.  
  
"I have. I grew up and lived in the old Zenmijou for more than three hundred years. I served Taishaku-ten, as you know, and I ate like this every day I was there."  
  
"Every day?? This is everyday food?"  
  
Yasha smiled. "That is why it is called Heaven! Don't eat too much, it is very rich and can make you sick. Here. Have some of these fruits to lighten your stomach, they are called golden pears."  
  
After eating more than was good, and finishing off with two of the pears, Ashura finally began slowing down. Yasha ushered his companion to the bed, pulling off the white tunic and hanging it up nearby. "Listen, love," he said. "If you undress behind this curtain, they cannot see you outside... but if you walk naked across the eating-space, no one can hide you!"  
  
"What is wrong with walking naked?"  
  
"Nothing, in the jungle. But you will have to learn the ways of the gods now, Ashura. This is not the jungle. It's much more dangerous than that. You must always keep that in mind." Yasha was undressing as he spoke. The door was well locked behind them; he lay Yamato on the bed beside him as they slipped under the silken covers. The sword was watchful and would warn them of anything amiss. Ashura was rolling languidly between the sheets, stretching and sighing, feeling their texture. "Everything about this place is so wonderful...!"  
  
"I know. Now sleep, Ashura."  
  
"Tenou wants us to live here."  
  
"I will be happy to live here, if you are."  
  
"Oh, I am! Yasha, I was so afraid..."  
  
"There is nothing to fear anymore." Yasha felt long arms and legs twining themselves around him, and touched the fine nose with his own. The full lips only an inch from his begged for attention, but he placed only a single light kiss upon their sweetness. "Sleep, love. You are too tired. Do not think about tomorrow. Sleep."  
  
Ashura was quiet for some time, softly breathing into Yasha's hair. Then: "Yasha. Tenou said we could be wedded."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I think that would be wonderful!"  
  
Yasha said nothing, only wrapping himself around the other's slender body, caressing and soothing it. He wondered what had caused Tenou's extravagant generosity. Obviously he had meant a quiet, private wedding. By a public blessing, a public wedding, the Emporer would be alienating the members of his own sect. Was Tenou, he wondered, the wise Emporer that he had first taken him to be? Or would he bring about insurrection and warfare in his kingdom? Ashura should not stay in Zenmijou.  
  
Yasha sighed. He did not care whether his love for Ashura was celebrated by any rite or ritual. That was up to Ashura. But as for staying in Zenmijou, for now, they could hardly do otherwise. 


	7. The Dance of the Gods

Chapter 6: The Dance of the Gods  
  
In the very early dawn, a peacock's cries outside in the Garden brought Yasha to consciousness. That, and the sensation of Ashura slipping silently out of the bed. Without opening his eyes, Yasha slapped his left hand quickly down on a handful of trailing hair and Ashura was brought up short with a grunt.  
  
"Let go, Yasha! I have to make water right now!"  
  
"Put your clothes on first," Yasha murmured, still without opening his eyes. Ashura responded with an exaggerated sigh, but reluctantly pulled the plain linen tunic on. Yasha heard the cloth rustling, then the padding of bare feet on the floor. There was a long hesitation, then a door opened and shut. Yasha smiled. Ashura still regarded the growling water-closet as some sort of domesticated Mazoku.  
  
After a few minutes it occurred to him that he needed to use the Mazoku himself. Forgetting his own robe, he entered the room without knocking to find Ashura silently dancing on the tiled floor, sweeping ribbons of tissue in graceful arcs, then embracing him intimately from behind as he made his own water. When he was finished Yasha turned to his love with a twinkle in his eye. "Well? Did the Mazoku scare everything out of you?"  
  
"Yashaa...!"  
  
"I need my robe, Ashura. Please go get it for me."  
  
"No." Ashura's head shook once, chin high. "Get it yourself. Or take one of those towels. You make me wear clothes while you walk around naked!"  
  
Yasha advanced until he had Ashura trapped between his two arms, laying his palms flat against the wall, nose to nose with his companion and still with that twinkling eye. "I do not like towels. If you do not get me my robe, I will be trapped in here, and the Mazoku will eat me!"  
  
"Kiss me," replied Ashura.  
  
Yasha leaned to kiss the tender lips lightly, just as he had the night before.  
  
"Better than that!" said Ashura, "Or you will get no clothes!"  
  
"Love, if I kiss you any better than that, we will both be trapped in here all morning, and I am sure your brother has other things planned for us!"  
  
A wicked glint was in Ashura's golden eyes. Suddenly the lithe figure ducked out from beneath Yasha's arm, heading for the door. Yasha reached to grasp Ashura's wrist.  
  
"What is all this grabbing, Yasha? You grab, but you will not kiss!"  
  
"I just realized there is something else you need to know. This is important, Ashura. Come here. This is hot water."  
  
Yasha reached to turn on the water, and Ashura jumped in surprise. "Oh!"  
  
"And cold water too, if you turn this handle. Now remember which is which, or you will be burned. It will likely be the same for the bath--" Yasha glanced in the direction of the round, covered tub.  
  
"How do they get hot water in here?"  
  
Yasha leaned close to Ashura conspiratorially. "It is magic," he whispered.  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
Yasha chuckled and released Ashura with a pat to the rump. "Will you please get my robe now?"  
  
"Mmm... I'll think about it." And Ashura vanished out the door.  
  
* * *  
  
An hour later, Yasha was lingering in a hot bath. It was, he admitted to himself, a great luxury that he'd long missed. He leaned back against the tiles, watching the steam rising from the water. His clothes had not materialized; but then, he had heard the outside door open and Ashura talking with the servants. It had taken some effort for him to quell his protective instincts, but he knew he couldn't go on tasting Ashura's food forever, or Ashura would feel insecure here, and he did not want that to happen quite yet. Problems were going to develop soon enough. Yasha could forsee a dozen of them. But Ashura was so full of mischief this morning--! An overflow of joy, Yasha realized, and he had no mind to put a damper on it. Ashura had needed this kind of joy for a lifetime.  
  
Yasha heard the clink of plates and glasses. Breakfast had come, and no doubt Ashura's thoughts of Yasha had been flung aside upon the appearance of food. Yasha did wish his companion would have brought him some of it as he relaxed in the bath, but Ashura would undoubtedly be trying to eat every single thing on the overladen serving-trays.  
  
When the hour was gone and Yasha had climbed from the bath and dried himself with a towel, he decided to venture out regardless of robe. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he opened the door-- and saw the great window he'd assumed to be in a permanent state of openness, veiled with a drape. He sighed and shook his head at Ashura's look. Ashura was seated, sure enough, in the eating area, stuffed and picking at crumbs. Yasha came over. Both plates were empty.  
  
"Ashuraa!"  
  
"You did not come out," Ashura said innocently. "I found out how to close that curtain, Yasha!"  
  
Yasha sat down across from Ashura, reaching for the few fragments of pastries that Ashura simply could not finish. "This is a very rich breakfast, Ashura! Even I could not eat two plates!"  
  
"It was worth the effort," Ashura said, lazing back, arms crossed behind head.  
  
Yasha smiled and sighed, shaking his head. "You have a lot to learn here in Zenmijou," he said, deciding that a little insecurity might be good after all. "I want you to hear me out."  
  
"All right," said Ashura.  
  
"I think everything that has happened since yesterday has taught you some things. Don't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What has it taught you?"  
  
"I think now I should have been brave enough to face my brother much sooner. I did not know he would forgive me."  
  
"Perhaps, if you had faced him sooner, he would not have forgiven you so easily. Time can be an ally. What else?"  
  
"...I really don't know."  
  
"I do." Yasha finished the crumbs and dusted his hands. "Whether you realize it or not, you have learned how little you really know about the ways of the gods."  
  
Ashura sat up as Yasha continued. "Now you see why I was keeping so close when we came here, Ashura. You know nothing of these people, nothing. They are unlike anyone you have ever known before. You do not even know their food, let alone their customs, likes and dislikes. This is why I need you to stay near me for now, until you learn. And... You are Ashura."  
  
Now the liquid golden eyes were slightly sad. "Yes..."  
  
"Your brother is the Emporer, and he has the greatest heart in Tenkai. He has forgiven you. That does not mean everyone here has forgiven you. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes. Yasha. I understand."  
  
"Good. One more thing, love. I do not want to say this, but I think it best that you are aware. You are very, very old, Ashura. You are grown, you wish to wed me by formal rite. But your mind is still like a child's in many ways. Try to remember that. Try to think of yourself as a child among your elders, and you will be both safer and happier."  
  
They sat in silence for some minutes, listening to the awakening city. Faint voices; music; the peacocks; the waterfall's endless roar. At last Yasha arose and got his tattered brown robe. He left off his wrist and body bracers, only buckling Yamato's belt around his waist as usual. Ashura, now in a more subdued state, lingered wordlessly around him, gently combing his damp, floor-length obsidian hair. Finally Yasha spoke. "I did not mean to cause you unhappiness, Ashura."  
  
"I know. But everything you say is true. I am so ignorant. And so many people must hate me."  
  
"Your brother will protect us. He is a noble soul, Ashura. I am very impressed with his honesty and intelligence. And he is clever as well. As long as we obey him, we have nothing to fear."  
  
* * *  
  
Shukidevi looked up from her water mirror. '...As long as we obey him, we have nothing to fear.'  
  
Tenou smiled. "Yasha-ou also is a noble soul. Shuki... I know that you dislike Ashura--"  
  
"My lord!"  
  
"Don't deny it. I know that you dislike him, and I know why. But if you can set aside your dislike for a moment-- and set aside your eyes for Yasha- ou!-- We must discuss Ashura."  
  
"Yasha-ou was a great worthy in the old days," she said thoughtfully. "A great general, and a king. Now... What about Ashura?"  
  
"Shuki... Can you live around the both of them?"  
  
Shukidevi sighed. "I hope so. I do want to stay by you."  
  
"I know you do." Tenou shifted uncomfortably. "My loyalties to you and Ashura should be about equal. But dissension will arise as soon as Ashura appears in public, and I don't want to have to defend him against you, of all people."  
  
"I can promise you I will say nothing, my lord."  
  
"And you will do nothing! There will be trouble enough without you interfering."  
  
She bowed to him. He held her gaze for long seconds before letting it go.  
  
* * *  
  
Ashura sighed in pure pleasure at the feel of golden silk, finally draping a long length of it three times round the waist, then up across the back and down one shoulder. Servants had knocked on the door just minutes after Yasha had finished dressing, and had taken them to separate destinations. Ashura had been surprised to find Tenou waiting quietly in a private room.  
  
They sat on the sumptuous floor cushions, facing one another awkwardly. Tenou was now on the same level as Ashura, and his eyes drifted over his sibling's ethereal face. How can we be from the same mother--? But the evidence was there-- echoes of Shashi in the generous mouth, the fine brow.  
  
Ashura looked down at the carpet, glancing up now and then for a split second with a hint of a shy smile. He's embarrassed. Tenou could not help but to continue thinking of Ashura as male-- perhaps a sort of exotic eunuch. "Would you like some new clothes?" Tenou finally asked lightly, breaking the silence. "I like your white tunic. But I have cloth-of-gold that would just match your eyes, and dancing scarves with golden bells that you can wear, if you wish. There is a whole storehouse of clothes just waiting, and you can have any of them you want!"  
  
"Really?" Ashura glanced up again shyly.  
  
Tenou stood and held out a hand. "Come. I'll show you."  
  
Ashura's hand slid into his. It was a slim, soft, lotus-white hand with a tentative, almost shaky grip. Large eyes looked up at him furtively.  
  
He's still afraid I'll reject him! Tenou's mind raced. He could not believe that this was the Ashura who had almost destroyed Tenkai; yet he remembered... he remembered... Tenou smiled suddenly and squeezed Ashura's hand. "It's all right, Ashura. It's all right. Don't be afraid!"  
  
Ashura walked noiselessly beside him, outside the room, down a winding causeway. Ahead of them, servants and nobles alike scurried away at the sight of the Emporer's demon.  
  
"Tenou? Brother?"  
  
"Yes, Ashura?"  
  
"Um... You are very nice to me. I hope you are as nice to Yasha too..." Ashura looked stricken the moment the words were out, but stubbornly refused to retract them. Tenou made sure Ashura saw him smile. "Of course! I am already looking into a nice post for your Yasha."  
  
"A post? A job? Really? Already? How can you know about him so fast?"  
  
"Well, I am the Emporer, of course, and a good Emporer knows a good person when he sees one!"  
  
"Oh." The unspoken question, which Tenou had deliberately led Ashura to unawares, rang loud in the silence. Finally: "Does my brother think I am a good person?"  
  
Tenou halted, caressing Ashura's hand. "Yes!" he said firmly.  
  
Ashura's head was bowed again. "There is Ashura... And there is Black Ashura. But Yasha stops Black Ashura."  
  
"Yasha is the strongest of the old Guardians. He is well suited to stopping Black Ashura, and I believe he can always do it. But... Black Ashura stopped himself, once, long ago." Tenou leaned forward, speaking intently, clasping Ashura's hands. "Black Ashura stopped himself."  
  
Ashura smiled a little, sadly. "Ashura loves Yasha. I used to be afraid to make other friends because they always died. But you are strong, just like Yasha."  
  
"Yes. I'm very strong, Ashura. In fact, they tell me I am stronger than Yasha. Someday soon we will have to have a contest. So don't be afraid! I'm not afraid of you."  
  
Those were, perhaps, the words Ashura had most wanted to hear in the world. The golden eyes brightened; the smile returned more brilliantly. Suddenly Ashura hugged Tenou, and the Emporer caught his half-brother up with a chuckle, spinning them around once before setting Ashura lightly back on the ground. "Friends?" he said.  
  
"Oh, yes, Tenou!"  
  
"Then let's go to the clothing house, and you pick all the clothes you want, and I will tell you how they look!"  
  
So, to Tenou's amusement, Ashura had picked a woman's sari of cloth-of- gold, with a deep burgundy silk choli and underskirt and a scarf with golden coins. The smiling Emporer arranged the folds, pleating and fastening them with jeweled pins as they cascaded like a sunlit waterfall over Ashura's totally featureless chest. As far as Tenou could tell from a furtive glance or two, Ashura was indeed genderless. Yasha's word, and the legends, were true. Tenou, not quite trusting Shuki on this sensitive topic, had wanted to personally confirm the situation to prevent any surprises. One Ashura was bad enough for his inner court to deal with at the moment, and there was no doubt that Yasha and Ashura loved one another very dearly indeed. He did not need Shuki to tell him the details, if there were any, and in fact had specifically forbidden her to use her water mirror to discover the personal secrets of anyone. But the possibility of a baby Ashura would have been very awkward!  
  
With one more lingering fear laid to rest, Tenou went happily on with the outfitting, taking the role of servant as easily as Emporer.  
  
Ashura had a way with the art of draping; somehow the uncut, unhemmed sari fabric looked perfectly finished, as the scarf partially veiled Ashura's beautiful face. Tenou fastened one more pin, then began to add a plethora of golden bangles to his sibling's wrists. They matched Yasha's gift from years before, the amber earring and anklets, almost perfectly.  
  
Tenou had learned that Ashura liked to dance, and a servant was already conveying his orders to the Court musicians. It was a good way to introduce Ashura to the Council, though he more than suspected they knew very well what he had done. He had seen Vivasvan speaking to Shuki, though they did not know it. Silently he wondered how many of his inner circle were going to be gone with "illnesses" tonight, rather than meet the demon who had leveled his father's city.  
  
There was no question Ashura's reception, private though it was, would create problems, serious problems. Though Ashura's and Yasha's arrival had gone unannounced, and the guards who had escorted them were sworn to silence, rumours were already spreading; Tentei Tenou was feeding and dressing his mother's murderer with his own hands... consorting with a demon... He could hear it all, repeated back from Shuki's stammering lips, and his own observations of his subjects. He stepped back. Let them think what they will. There was another wisdom, older than any god present here: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Ashura was both. "There!"  
  
"Tenou...!" said Ashura, standing wide-eyed in front of a large mirror. "This is great for dancing... but if I live in this every day it will be ruined!"  
  
Tenou chuckled. "We will get you more clothes than these!" he said. "Let's go see what else we have!"  
  
The sun was at zenith as they left the storehouses and headed across the Peacock Garden past the two temples gracing the center of it. The grounds were almost deserted, as the people of Zenmijou did not take their lunch until the sun was past the noon. Ashura was laden with two saris, three cholis, two skirts, a pair of men's trousers, a brown robe very similar in cut to Yasha's, a flouncy white shirt, golden sandals, hair chains, and, finally, a hat which did not look good at all, but which Tenou, in all kindness (and humor) said was fine. A beautiful gold and garnet nose ring had been regretfully left behind, as Tenou had refused to pierce noses. Suddenly Ashura seemed to sense something and, with a glance at Tenou for permission, ran ahead, feet seeming to barely touch the ground. Tenou hung back, watching. Ashura rounded a corner and met Yasha face to face.  
  
Even from a distance Tenou thought he heard Ashura's astonished gasp, for Yasha was clad all in black silk, with a red sash about his waist. A black patch covered the scarred and empty socket of his missing right eye. Very tall, he seemed to loom over the garden, but he cast no shadow there. The depths of his good eye sparkled like a clear forest pool as he spied Ashura all in shining cloth-of-gold, the already golden sun casting a shimmer from the fabric and from Ashura's jet black hair.  
  
"Yasha!..." Ashura stood spellbound for a long moment, then trotted lightly to him, pausing just long enough to lay the bundle of clothes down on a nearby bench. Tenou stood silently just behind a flowering tree, listening to Ashura's excited laughter and Yasha's murmured replies. Tenou was on the warrior's blind side-- Yasha did not know he was there, and the Emporer found himself biting his lip as Ashura grabbed Yasha's hand and, with a sly sidelong smile in Tenou's direction, led him onto a green lawn. As Tenou watched, Ashura coaxed Yasha into a very slow and stately dance. It must have been a Yasha-clan dance, Tenou realized, feeling he shouldn't be witnessing this, but unable to take his eyes away. Ashura was showing off Yasha to the Emporer.  
  
The dance was like a quiet courting of two exotic birds. Yasha bowed deeply; Ashura dropped to one knee in a rustling of silk, then was lifted by the waist to a difficult shoulder-height for many long seconds as Yasha turned in a ray of sunlight, muscled arms quivering slightly. The dance was also a test of strength. At last Ashura slid lightly down to earth and slowly circled Yasha three times clockwise, honoring him as a god. Then Yasha took Ashura's hand, holding it lightly above their heads, walking in the same clockwise direction as, turning, they drew ever closer together. Finally seven last steps, as in the Vedic marriage ceremony, until their foreheads touched, and it was no longer a dance but a communion. Their surroundings forgotten, they stood still as statues in the garden. Tenou, deeply moved, found he was holding his breath.  
  
Then the magical moment was obliterated as a group of laughing and chattering women came through with their picnic baskets like a whirlwind, leaving Ashura holding empty air. Tenou nearly doubled over. Yasha had vanished like a shadow, but he'd seen the warrior's scarlet face. Hand over mouth but unable to contain his mirth, Tenou beckoned to Ashura. "That was an excellent dance, Ashura-- but your Yasha is more shy than any maiden!"  
  
Ashura smiled happily. "Oh, he will get over it, and he'll watch my dancing tonight, too! Yasha can never say "no" to Ashura!" The last was said with such egotistical pride that Tenou finally laughed, but kindly. "I doubt if anyone could! Let's go to lunch now, and afterward I'll show you the Great Hall. Then you can go back with Yasha and rest until the sun sets."  
  
* * *  
  
That evening, Ashura danced the Dance of Shiva in the Great Hall of Zenmijou. Two brave musicians with vina and tabla set melody and rhythm, but no other sound could be heard except the jingling of Ashura's ornaments. In all the hall, no one was speaking; all eyes were on the mysterious golden figure, dancing and leaping within a nimbus of its own flames. Ashura's bare feet slid silently over the marble floor; the long arms reached upward to the highest heavens as if in supplication; but the beautiful eyes never left Yasha. Always for Yasha, only for Yasha, Ashura danced the Dance.  
  
Tenou had Yasha by his side. He had been intending to speak with him, but it was impossible to do anything but watch Ashura-- and the rest of his Inner Court. A messenger had come to him earlier with important words from Shuki, but he would address that later. Meanwhile, Garga, Partha and Niroda had not shown up. They were the conservative wing of his personal advisers, and it did not surprise him that all three were missing simultaneously. The point was taken; but if and when the time came, Tenou would make a point of his own. Meanwhile the musicians, according to his vina player, Narada, were actually more frightened than rebellious. They were the same bards, after all, who told and re-told and embellished the frightful old tale of the "Demon of Zenmijou." Narada was a kind and good soul and doubtless protecting his friends while still managing to tell some semblance of the truth. It was only now, despite Kendappa's lesson long ago, that Tenou fully understood the slow, subversive power of music and song, and he wondered why he had ignored the persistence of the work of which Ashura was both protagonist and antagonist. It had been something trivial, he realized, nagging him subconsciously for years, one of those small things that seemingly would be of little interest and now would affect the entire population.  
  
Of the rest of Tenou's intimate circle, many women were in attendance. Tenou found it remarkable that they were more interested in Ashura than their husbands or co-wives... and apparently more fearless. He was noting other faces present and missing, and thoughtfully tallying it at about seventy-five percent the usual attendance, when at last Ashura began to tire and the Dance came to its end. Most of the onlookers did not stint in their applause.  
  
Ashura ran to Yasha and Tenou, panting and excited. "Did you like it?"  
  
Yasha smiled. "I always like your dancing... but tonight you were even better than usual!"  
  
"It's these clothes and things Tenou gave me, and the music. Brother, did you like it?"  
  
"Ashura, you were born to dance! I loved it! Please dance for us again another night!"  
  
Ashura flushed faintly pink at the compliment of the Emporer, and remembered to bow. "I will! Brother Tenou has only to ask!"  
  
"And I will! Now, I am going to have you escorted to your room while I speak with my Court." He beckoned to Narada, who laid down his vina and approached Ashura without fear but with much curiosity. As Narada began to ask questions-- where Ashura had learned the Dance, what music it was originally played to-- Tenou leaned close to Yasha and whispered: "My miko tells me Seiryuu of the Ryuu clan has learned you are here and is already planning an uprising. Take care."  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha checked their quarters thoroughly that night before they went to bed. He unsheathed Yamato and lay it just behind the cushions above their heads, where its light would be dimmed.  
  
"Ashura. I know you heard what Tenou said to me."  
  
"Seiryuu was Ryuu's cousin."  
  
"Yes."  
  
Ashura turned to him. "I need to find him. I need to tell him--"  
  
"--No! Ashura!" Yasha's arms wrapped tightly around the slender form. "Seiryuu is an assassin now, and he intends to kill you."  
  
"If he does, Tenou will have to punish the Ryuu clan for my crime! Yasha-- "  
  
"I know. We must trust Tenou. Trust now! Do not weep! Do not let the past haunt you!"  
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"Forget your troubles. We will make your dreams very sweet tonight." Yasha kissed those tender lips that he had been longing for days to taste fully again, then parted them gently with his tongue, slipping between the pearly teeth to stroke the sensitive roof of that delectable mouth. Ashura responded instantly with a deep moan, wrapping both shuddering white arms around him.  
  
* * *  
  
Shuki had not been present at Ashura's introduction to the Court. The Emporer had stationed her at her water-mirror, and her visions had revealed the plans of Seiryuu. She had thought it best to send a messenger.  
  
Now she was scanning other potential problems. Garga, Niroda and Partha were not ignorant of her capabilities and she did not expect to find them up to anything. She didn't-- at least not Garga and Niroda, each of them alone in his room, the first eating, the second looking thoughtful. Partha, on the other hand, was making furious love to his wife. She chuckled at his method of venting political frustration. The old goat was five thousand years young.  
  
Her unguarded thoughts strayed at the sight and for a moment the mirror reflected what was in her heart. Yasha, lying on his back, gloriously nude, long hair cascading like black streams, eye bright with equal parts love and lust as-- Shuki shook her head and waved away the vision in disgust. Ashura. Ashura was always there. Useless demon, pathetic creature that never should have been, wasting the precious seed of the last of the Yamas' noble line!  
  
"Shuki!" It was Tenou. She started so violently she knocked a brass incense burner to the floor. It clattered like her heart.  
  
The Emporer strode to her, a fond smile on his face and annoyance in his voice. "Your face is as red as my robe. I wonder what could cause such a thing..." He bent to pick up the fallen burner, and shook the ash out the nearby window. "Well? When he is undressed, do you still like what you see?"  
  
"Tentei!!"  
  
"Don't lie to me, Shuki. I know that useful things can, on occaision, be garnered from such spying, but this was not necessary."  
  
She had no place to hide her face. "Yes, my lord."  
  
He held her under his gaze until she began to squirm. Then he said: "You may go. Get a good sleep, my dear-- if you can! I will need you to track Seiryuu and his henchmen soon enough." Unable to resist, he called after her as she vanished through the door. "If you need any help sleeping, why don't you call on Kama? He is a good courtesan... and he even has long black hair!"  
  
He shook his head as he heard her feet scurrying down the corridor. As he went to his own quarters and prepared for bed, his mind was filled with thoughts, planning for the morrow. 


	8. The King Who Went Astray

Chapter 7: The King Who Went Astray  
  
Yasha woke early the next morning to kisses-- soft, sweet kisses-- forehead, cheeks, lips, throat... Ashura was lying on top of him, watching him with a wicked glint. "Yasha was dreaming something really very pleasant!"  
  
Yasha smiled, wrapping strong arms around his eternal companion, pressing their bodies tightly together. "Yasha was dreaming of Ashura," he said, and returned kiss for kiss. Entangled in Ashura's long limbs, intoxicated by the perfectly smooth skin and the cascade of jet black hair mingling with his own, he lost himself, drifting back into the dream.  
  
An hour later they were as sated as two lovers could be. Replete, almost purring with satisfaction, Ashura was again draped over Yasha, licking the sweat from his face with long strokes. Yasha turned his head obligingly so his companion could reach his empty right eye socket, which was sensitive. Ashura's tongue gently parting the scarred lids, probing in and around those tender membranes and caressing them with wet, soothing strokes, was an incredibly pleasant and erotic act. Had Yasha not been completely spent, he would have been aroused immediately.  
  
For some time they lay together like two drowsy tigers in the woods-- but, at last: "Yasha! I'm hungry."  
  
Yasha smiled, rolling halfway over to hold Ashura at arms' length. "I think that is the only thing about you that hasn't changed a bit!... Come, beloved. We must bathe before we eat. Remember, this is Zenmijou, not the forest!"  
  
* * *  
  
Breakfast was barely over when the servants returned with the announcement of the gathering of the Council of Twelve. Yasha and Ashura were requested to wait in an anteroom as Tenou and his advisors discussed their future in Tenkai.  
  
The debate went on all morning. Yasha had no use for the politics of committee and spent his time outside the Council Chamber sitting motionless on a bench. Yamato had not left his side. Ashura paced here and there with nervous curiosity.  
  
At noon there was a recess, and Tenou came striding out of the Council Chamber, head high and face slightly flushed with anger. Yasha rose to greet him. "Niroda speaks out openly against the Emporer's sibling," Yasha said.  
  
"Yes, naturally." Tenou drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, his broad shoulders settling. "Sometimes it's all I can do to keep myself from killing that bastard!-- Sorry, Ashura," he amended himself quickly, seeing Ashura's horrified expression.  
  
"Oh, no killing, Tenou!"  
  
"Right. But hidebound as he is, you'd think he'd respect tradition! All the Tenteis before my father kept Ashuras. They harbored the clan for the defense of the realm. But Niroda chooses to forget that Ashuras can be useful, and dwells only on the destructive potential of a single Ashura."  
  
"Perhaps it is good that he does so," Ashura said falteringly.  
  
"Tenou," said Yasha thoughtfully, "What has been said about the seals on Shurato? Can they be removed while Ashura is still alive?"  
  
"We've been discussing it. Shuki says it may be possible, but though I love her dearly I wouldn't trust her judgement on any issue pertaining to our Ashura. Ganapati the historian informs me that there is no information about this in the Ashuric Records. In ancient times, when the Ashuras came down to this world, the seals were indeed somehow removed and the Ashura clan put under the control of the Tentei. But the books don't say anything about how it was done."  
  
"Let's try!" Ashura said spontaneously.  
  
"Slow down!" Tenou said warningly. "It may be very dangerous indeed to alter Shurato while you are alive. We both saw what happened when you placed the last seal into the sword. What cataclysm might happen if it is removed?"  
  
"Brother Tenou? I want to read the Ashuric records." Ashura had forgotten about the seals the moment Tenou had stopped speaking; that unpredictable tide of intellect was changing again.  
  
"Perhaps later," Yasha said soothingly. "Besides, you cannot read yet. Are you hungry, love?"  
  
"Ashura cannot read?" Tenou said musingly. "I will get him a tutor when this nonsense is over. And when is he not hungry?" Tenou lay an affectionate hand on Ashura's shoulder. "Perhaps you would join us at lunch?"  
  
Yasha smiled grimly. "The Council will be present, of course."  
  
"Of course!" Their sarcasm passed right over Ashura's head.  
  
* * *  
  
The appearance of Yasha and Ashura at the Council luncheon was not unexpected. Ashura was almost oblivious to all but the meal and ate like a pig, eliciting a tweak from Yasha to correct bad manners.  
  
Niroda sat some distance down the long table and opposite them, watching grimly with set jaw as Ashura filched several bites of Yasha's rice. Yasha was not eating much, rather managing to loom over the table as he sat. Death's own shadow was not a thing to be taken lightly, and Partha, on Yasha's left, seemed a bit subdued.  
  
In reality, Yasha was uneasy. The Sons of Aditi were far older than Tenou, though he was in fact now the twelfth member since his father was gone. The silence of Vivasvan was particularly unsettling to Yasha, for Vivasvan was the forefather of his own race, the Yamas. Beyond procreating at his advanced age, he had been depending on Yasha to continue the noble line-- and to continue Death's existence in Tenkai.  
  
As if sensing his thoughts, Shuki cast Yasha a sideways glance. He ignored her completely, studying other faces as the oblivious Ashura continued stealing and disposing of his remaining food.  
  
Aryaman was there, Chief of the Pitris, Ancestor of the Ancestors. His wisdom harked back before the time when the Ashuras fell from elsewhere to become demons under Tentei's yoke. But his ancient gaze was pitiless as he regarded this Ashura. Yasha knew he would side with his friend, Varuna, God of the Sea, by whom he sat, and Varuna was the god of the Ryuu clan.  
  
Tvashtri, Forger of Vajra the Thunderbolt, weapon of the Emporer, was an artisan and always had been carefully neutral-- at least in Yasha's experience. Savitri was kinder; but he was known for his good and lively nature. He would lean to any decision Tenou made. Bhaga also was kindly disposed, or so Yasha remembered him from ages past. He had grown up near them all, and as those ancient memories, thousands of years gone, came flooding back, he again felt the acute displeasure and disappointment of Vivasvan, and wondered if he would be cursed.  
  
Dhatri and Vidhatri; Mithra, God of Friendship, and naturally a friend of the kind Tenou; and finally, the athletic and youngest-looking of the original Twelve, Trivikrama. Then Tenou at the head of the table, looking in complete control of the situation. Yasha's admiration for Ashura's twin ran deep. More than one Tentei had been cowed by the "Twelve," but Tenou would not be one of them.  
  
Yasha nudged Ashura to attention as the Emporer began the meeting once more. "I think you have all gotten at least a glimpse of my brother before now; but I have brought him here before you to speak for himself."  
  
Ashura choked. Tenou appeared to not notice as Yasha quietly offered a bowl of water to his companion.  
  
Vivasvan was the first to speak out, just beating Niroda. "Well? What do you have to say?"  
  
Yasha held his breath. Ashura's intelligence was at its lowest ebb, but whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.  
  
Ashura, now recovered, set the water bowl down carefully. "I... I would like to thank brother Tenou for bringing us to this place... But especially for forgiving me."  
  
"You are most welcome," Tenou said calmly as Yasha let out his breath slowly.  
  
"Ashura," said Mithra, leaning forward. "What do you plan to do if you stay with us?"  
  
"Whatever Tenou wants," Ashura replied with a shrug.  
  
"Yasha-ou!" called Savitri. "What is this? Ashura is still only a child!"  
  
"Ashura changes day by day," Yasha said quietly.  
  
"And the Black Ashura?" asked Savitri, a crease of worry on his still- handsome brow.  
  
"Black Ashura does not surface now unless Ashura partakes of what should not be given."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
Yasha hesitated. The Twelve Adaityas already knew. "Blood," he finally said. "Flesh. Anger. Fear. These are the things that can bring Black Ashura forth. But treat Ashura as your friend, and you will have a friend indeed." He put a protective arm around Ashura's shoulders. "We are here only in obedience to the Emporer's request, which we could not refuse." Time to throw the responsibility for this situation back onto the shoulders to which it belonged, though Tenou must have already taken many blows for it earlier in the day.  
  
Niroda was muttering something sourly. Ashura whispered to Yasha: "He says Shuki would have made a better Emperor!" Yasha glanced at her appraisingly, sensing something of significance to Niroda's remark, then looked away again. A bad feeling was coming over him; Ashura's hand was cold under the table and he clutched it tightly. Something in Tenou's manner; the way he looked for a moment at his plate, then glanced to his stargazer, who in turn glanced again at Yasha. He read something in her eyes this time. If it was a warning, he needed none. Many undercurrents were running in these waters. This was much more than a simple division of the Council; yet when he fixed Tenou with a steady gaze, the eyes looking back at him were honest enough.  
  
"Ashura!" said Aryaman, so sharply Ashura started. "If you had to choose between the Emporer and Yasha-ou, what would you do?"  
  
"I-- I-- What?" The enormity of the question-- and the horror of it-- had staggered Ashura.  
  
Tenou laid it out in gentler words. "Aryaman means, if for example I ordered you to stay by me, and sent Yasha away into the forest, would you follow my order or follow Yasha instead?"  
  
Ashura's reply was foregone. "I would never betray Yasha, never!" A flash of defiant anger glittered in those clear golden eyes.  
  
"So then you would betray the Emporer, your own brother, instead?" said Aryaman.  
  
"... I would not!" Ashura looked miserable. "I love my brother!"  
  
"Tenou," said Aryaman, "You do not have control of this 'weapon' of yours."  
  
Yasha stood up quickly, seeing an opportunity to perhaps right things. "I am under the command of the Tentei. I will do as he wishes in all things... And Ashura will do as I wish."  
  
Ashura gulped and nodded to the Council. "All I wish to do is please Yasha and my brother. I will always obey them."  
  
Varuna, who had been seated with eyes closed in thought, opened them in the ensueing silence and Yasha suddenly realized he had trapped himself even before the Lord of the Waters spoke. "Yasha-ou was once a trustworthy god," he said in a soft voice that still carried well around the room. "But when the Darkness came to slay him, he did not resist. Had this Ashura slain him, all Heaven would have been locked in deathlessness. Yasha-ou was willing to sacrifice the eternal freedom of all souls to serve his own selfish and misplaced sentiment. Your father was unwise, Tenou, and he will suffer many, many lifetimes in Samsara for his atrocities before he is set free. But his selfishness pales before the selfishness of Yasha-ou, who was ready to sacrifice the world for the love of a demon."  
  
Yasha had not seated himself again, but Ashura had gasped and sunk down weakly. Ashura had never thought much past the simple victory of saving Yasha, that Ashura had saved Yasha... Yasha caressed Ashura's hair and Ashura began to weep. Tenou turned to them tiredly. "Yasha-ou? Varuna has said the truth. I was there. You would have sacrificed us all. It was Ashura himself who saved us--" he cast the Council a long, sweeping look to drive home this point. "Ashura himself! The question is, Yasha, would you risk Tenkai again?"  
  
Yasha's eye was dark. "No. I have had an age to think since then. Nothing is worth Tenkai. Yet, had I killed Ashura, I too would be gone, for I would certainly have also killed myself, and would things be any better then? I am Death, and I have no issue. Taishakuten... had a strength to him which I do not have and never will."  
  
Ashura stirred beneath his touch. Yasha bent to whisper in one pointed ear.  
  
Vivasvan stood up. "I say this: let Yasha, the Yamadharma, prove his loyalty to Tenkai by sacrificing the Ashura here and now!"  
  
"Ashura is my own blood!" Tenou snapped in the sudden shocked silence.  
  
"Stop!" shouted Ashura suddenly. They all jumped, even Yasha, who had stood in unflinching, immovable silence at Vivasvan's suggestion.  
  
"Let me be killed!" Ashura continued. "I am very dangerous. I ought to die for that reason alone. I would have killed myself long ago, but I lived for Yasha's sake-- just as selfishly as he would have died for mine. Do not blame Yasha and do not blame my brother!" The golden eyes flared with a full, intelligent, luminous fire before their light faded in anguish. Ashura turned slowly to Yasha. "Yasha...? I would be happy to die, if it were you who killed me."  
  
Yasha met Ashura's steady, loving gaze. "I will kill you if the Emporer orders it," he said evenly. "But your death will also mean my own."  
  
"Not if Tenou forbids it," said Vivasvan.  
  
"I did not call my brother here to murder him at the table!" Tenou was livid.  
  
"The point," said Aryaman, "is Yasha-ou's loyalty to you, since he is supposedly in control of this demon. What better way to test it?"  
  
"It is no more reasonable a test than the one my father gave him, that of killing Kuyo, which he refused to do!"  
  
"But now he says that he will not refuse. Yasha-ou?"  
  
Yasha drew a deep breath. "I will not refuse an order of the Emporer," he said, though the room was darkening around him in a reddish haze. He felt Ashura's cool hand on his arm, and heard as if from a great distance the beloved voice. "Yasha? Yasha! It's all right!"  
  
Then he snapped out of it. Tenou was saying something in a strained voice. "--No greater danger than the previous Ashuras--"  
  
--"Ridiculous!" shouted Varuna.  
  
Tenou held up a hand in silence, slicing off the uproar with a single gesture. He was clearly infuriated. "Ashura. Yasha. Leave this room now, while we debate!" he said.  
  
"Put them under guard, Tenou," said Vivasvan. "My traitorous descendant is not to be trusted. Yamadharma has strayed and given his heart to a demon, and I will have no more of him." He fixed Yasha with the look which the old warrior had dreaded since entering the room. "I cut him off from my blood and my family."  
  
Yasha did not respond, only gazing at Vivasvan steadily.  
  
"I will send them to their quarters," Tenou said quietly. "They will obey my command."  
  
Yasha bowed his head and led a stunned Ashura out of the room as the uproar began again. As the door shut behind them, Ashura fainted completely away. Yasha caught his love in his arms. "Ashura! Ashura!"  
  
Ashura blinked, squinting against the bright skylights. "Oh... I am so dizzy. My brother, my poor brother... And Yasha...!"  
  
Yasha was glancing to right and left. The guards at the door showed no sign of following them as he started off with long strides toward their room, carrying Ashura. As he walked, he whispered in a low voice meant for Ashura's keen hearing alone. "Your brother has given us a clear way out. He told us to go to our quarters, but not to stay there. They all know it. We don't have much time, but somehow we must get to a vimana."  
  
"No... No, Yasha."  
  
Yasha stopped in his tracks. "Ashura, this is our only chance! Tenou will be forced on this issue! He cannot deny how dangerous you are!"  
  
"That is exactly why I will not try to escape. Put me down, Yasha."  
  
Yasha stood still, letting the lithe figure slip from his arms. Ashura took his hand and began to lead him, a little unsteadily, the rest of the way to their quarters. Once inside, and locking the door, Ashura stretched out upon the sumptuous bed. "I am tired of running, Yasha. I'm just... tired."  
  
Yasha lay down and gathered Ashura up in a fierce embrace that hurt, but Ashura did not cry out. "They are right about me. I know it. You know it. Kill me, Yasha. Then you will be free, and you can make an heir before you... before you join me again... Yasha? In our next lives, will we know each other again...? I worry about that a lot..."  
  
Ashura was rambling. Yasha kissed the other hard and passionately before answering. "Do not get ahead of events, Ashura. We are not yet condemned. But I believe now that the Council somehow either planned our arrival here, playing on your brother's desire to see you once more, or anticipated it. You were too busy eating, love, to put your attention where it should have been..." he smiled in spite of himself, brushing away a stray lock of hair from Ashura's brow, and a crumb of brown rice from the corner of those sweet lips. "It explains things. I never trusted the Emporer's stargazer..." He fell silent suddenly.  
  
"She wants you very badly," Ashura said. "I can see it in her. I can feel it in my dreams. She would do anything to possess you."  
  
"Including going against the Emporer. You must never trust her, Ashura."  
  
"Never...? Yasha. I am going to die, and you are going to kill me." Ashura reached with both hands to take Yasha's face gently between them. "You must understand this."  
  
Yasha sighed heavily. "The Prophecy of Kuyo said that you would kill me."  
  
"I conquered fate for you."  
  
"Perhaps that was not the time."  
  
Ashura appeared to consider this, then dismissed it. "It is too late for anything like that to happen now. Please. Get Yamato."  
  
"I will do no such thing until your brother commands me to do it. Now, you are going to stay here, right here, in my arms. You will not try to kill yourself. You will not leave my sight. Do you promise this?"  
  
"Yes... Yes, Yasha..." Ashura pushed against him with a sudden desperation of love and Yasha caught the other's clothes and tore them from the pale body, kissing Ashura so savagely that cool blood began to flow from Ashura's lower lip. Yasha's breath sobbed from more than passion and Ashura drank his tears as they spilled, and wept with him, until after a long time they both lay spent and still upon the wet, stained silk as the sun began to sink into the west and the light in the spacious room grew dim.  
  
When Ashura had sunk into uneasy slumber, Yasha arose to find a message had been slipped under the door. He read it quickly, then lay it aside. With a grim face he returned to his beloved. He did not unsheath Yamato this time, but put sword and scabbard on the floor at the side of the bed, despising them for the first time in his life. He eased Ashura's body under the sheets, then slipped between them himself. Ashura half-woke. "Is it morning yet...?"  
  
"No, Ashura," Yasha whispered. Ashura sighed and burrowed against him, and he wrapped himself around the fragile body and prayed silently as his beloved fell into a deep, still sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
When morning did come, Yasha had not slept at all, while Ashura had not woken. Yasha lay very still, watching Ashura breathe; watching the sensuous lips curl in a childlike smile, the long eyelashes flutter in some rare, sweet dream. Then, suddenly, those eyes were open, the morning sun filtering in through the prisms above to shine into their depths as though illuminating two pools with pure gold. Ashura sat up, the smile vanishing. "Yasha... Haven't you slept?"  
  
"No," said Yasha. "I have not slept."  
  
"Don't worry," Ashura said with gentle calm, and moved to lay upon his chest. Yasha drew a deep breath, feeling the other's weight heavy upon his heart. "Ashura... Last night I received a message after you were asleep. I did not want to wake you... Perhaps I should have."  
  
"You must kill me then?" Ashura did not move.  
  
"It is worse than that. The Emporer has ordered a public execution before his subjects."  
  
Long silence. Then: "My brother..."  
  
Yasha felt the other's silent groan of agony; felt something finally break inside Ashura's heart. "Oh, Ashura, Ashura," he whispered. All his half- formed plans of subduing his love, making a fighting escape, running deep into the forest disintegrated with the disintegration of Ashura's happiness; and as he felt the despair physically wracking Ashura's body he also felt that this was an instance where death might be kindest after all.  
  
* * *  
  
On the Emporer's public balcony a strange scene was in the making. The white marble sacrificial altar used on state occaisions was decorated richly with flowers. In the past it had been used only to offer food and ghee to the God; but now Ashura stood by it calmly, straight and tall, dressed in plain white linen. No jewelry adorned the Demon of Zenmijou, and those long strands of ebony hair floated freely, their ends trailing on the ground, for the masculine warrior's topknot had been left undone today. Instead, Ashura's hair was parted like a woman's, and the fair face was bruised in several places by Yasha's final kisses.  
  
The God of Death and Righteousness stood as quietly as Ashura nearby, gazing out over the assembled crowd with an unreadable eye. His was a black robe. Yamato hung at his side, but he would not have to use it after all, for Ashura's last wish was to die in his arms. Therefore, he held an ancient sacrificial dagger-- and he grasped the hilt tightly. He was numb, emotionless. He had known, of course, that it could always come to this, and indeed, as he had told Tenou at their first meeting in the new capitol, his killing of Ashura in fact seemed an inevitable thing; but the suddenness of this had stunned him nonetheless. One moment they had been happier than they had been in thousands of years; the next-- this.  
  
Tenou appeared, surrounded by a train of sacrificial priests, and the crowd roared. The Emporer's face was the picture of sternness, but Yasha saw bitterness as well as he turned his eyes briefly toward him. Tenou had not come near them since proclaiming his decree, but Yasha heard him clearly enough anyway-- "I gave you a chance. Why did you not escape with my brother? Why did you not protect him as you are sworn to do...?"  
  
But perhaps that was Yasha's own guilt talking. As the Emporer looked away again with a hint of shame in his face, Yasha saw the Council hovering like vultures at the far side of the balcony. Directly below them guards were escorting a group of furious Saivites from the assembly hall. This was also inevitable-- a rift between the two great religious factions Tenou had been working to bring together. Information travelled fast among the Brahmanas. Yasha wondered briefly who in the Council was ultimately responsible, and his eye narrowed. He had never promised Ashura that he would not seek vengeance.  
  
"My beloved subjects," Tenou said clearly, his voice ringing strong around the assembly hall. "I have called you here today to formally introduce you to my own twin, the last of the Ashura race, whom I have finally found... And for you to witness his death."  
  
The surprise of most of the crowd was understandable. From that distance, the details of Ashura's likeness could not be seen.  
  
"The most respectable Council--" (there was no hint of irony in that, though there could have been, Yasha noted coldly) "--has decreed that the Yamadharma, Yasha-ou, the king who went astray, and my brother's beloved, should be the instrument of this sacrifice to prove his loyalty to me and to Tenkai." Tenou paused. "While my heart does not approve of this decision, I have concluded that I must abide by the will of the Council and the royal Brahmanas. If I am committing a great sin by allowing this sacrifice, may it be expiated. This decision was the most difficult decision I have ever faced. But I must take into account your comfort, my subjects, and the future of Tenkai.  
  
"We all know the legend of the Demon of Zenmijou, which dwells within the body of my twin. Yasha-ou has this Ashura under control. Nevertheless, the Council recommends this sacrifice."  
  
Tenou turned his back abruptly on the crowd, which stirred in restless agitation. A few shouts broke out here and there; others applauded. Ashura looked at Tenou steadily as the Emporer approached. "Ashura," he said gently, yet loud enough for some of the Council members to hear. "I was not expecting anything like this to happen... Why did you not run away? Surely you know I bought you time."  
  
Ashura stood straighter, and answered in a clear voice that could be heard by everyone. "I did not run away because I know what I am, Tenou. It is only fitting that I die." Then, more softly: "Tenou... I know they made you do this. I know it's not your fault. Yasha says they tricked you into bringing me here to kill me. Tenou... Now it's my turn. I forgive you! I still love you, brother... Don't feel too sorry for me. Don't be too sad..."  
  
Tenou moved suddenly to embrace his twin, and Yasha, still coldly observing it all, saw a sudden glint of something in the Emporer's eye...  
  
The brahmanas had done their preliminary rituals. It was time. Yasha touched holy water and approached the altar. Ashura smiled up at him radiantly as he knelt, one knee on the sacred stone, to gather his only reason for living-- and dying-- into his arms. "Yasha?" said Ashura, already harboring a sweet look of relief and release, a look that made Yasha suddenly feel emotion again. He had not only failed Tenkai, but he had also failed Ashura, who was truly glad to die. "Remember me..."  
  
Yasha pressed Ashura against his heart as he positioned the dagger at the nape of Ashura's neck for instant death. He had warmed the blade with the palms of his hands so Ashura might not feel it so keenly. "I will always remember you," he said quietly. "Mahadeva--!" But at that second something struck his hand. The knife went clattering across the floor. Ashura gasped and flinched. Tenou stood over them, left arm still upraised from the blow. "STOP!"  
  
Yasha and Ashura knelt frozen in place on the altar. Slow drops of blood were staining Ashura's white gown where the blade had scratched tender skin.  
  
Tenou turned to the Council. "Is this enough?!" he demanded, loud enough for the whole hall to hear, his fury showing clearly now. "Did you like what you saw?! Did you like torturing my own brother?! Yasha-ou will obey! There is no question of that now. Ashura will obey! There is no need to kill!"  
  
Then the brahmanas were all over them, crying that the stopping of a sacrifice was inauspicious. Tenou waved them away with disgust. "Go back to your dens, you jackals! You were bought by my enemies! No true brahmana would encourage such a sacrifice as this!"  
  
Nothing could have moved the crowd like this, the Emporer's dismissal of the Brahmanas who were technically his superiors. It harked back to the days of Taishakuten, who had casually slaughtered all those who opposed him. Tenou ignored the outraged priests, sweeping back to the balcony rail. "My subjects!" he called. "My brother and the Yamadharma have publicly proven their obedience to me! They will stay here as my guests! I hereby end this ceremony by my own words, and willingly take upon myself all karmas caused by my actions here today!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Ashura," Yasha said that evening, as they lay among scattered pillows in their bedchamber. "I saw your face today. You were too happy to die, love."  
  
Ashura stretched contentedly out in yards of silk. "I was happy to die, as long as it was you who killed me."  
  
There was a sudden hard knock on the door. Yasha sat up abruptly, but it had already opened-- unlocked from the outside. When Tenou entered without asking permission, Ashura immediately sprang from the bed, trailing only a half-concealing sheet, and ran to the Emporer-- then stopped short. "Te-- Tenou...?"  
  
"Oh, Ashura!" Tenou reached for his sibling, picking up the silk bedding to wrap it around his twin even as he embraced the slight figure. "Ashura...! I am so sorry for today. I am so sorry...!"  
  
"Brother, your eyes are all red! Have you been crying over me...?" Ashura reached to stroke the other's cheek tenderly.  
  
Yasha stepped from the shadows of the sleeping chamber, clad in his brown robe. "Tentei." He bowed formally.  
  
Tenou wrapped his arms tighter around Ashura and rested his chin on the other's head as he looked to Yasha. "And you. Yasha-ou... I must apologize. How can I even begin to make reparation to you for this terrible day? Please... Ask anything of me. If it is in my power, I will grant it."  
  
Yasha's face was unreadable. "Then let us go back to our jungle. We will not bother you again."  
  
"Yasha, no...!" Ashura turned to him.  
  
Tenou looked at the floor. "That is one of the things I cannot grant, and you know it," he said quietly. "I told the people you were staying here as my guests."  
  
"But not forever. I will change my request, and Ashura, you must understand that this is for everyone's good. I request that we be released from here after a period of time of Ashura's choosing."  
  
"That, I can grant-- provided that it is truly Ashura's choosing."  
  
Yasha nodded. "I thank you, Tentei."  
  
Ashura looked from one to the other. "Do I have to choose right away?"  
  
"No, Ashura," said Yasha kindly. "I know you love your brother and wish to spend time with him." He looked back to the Emporer. "You owe me nothing further, Tentei. You saved Ashura's life while proving our loyalty to you. The Council was publicly humiliated as they have not been since time began, and the most hypocritical of your Brahmanas have been exposed for what they are. Good strategy-- worthy of your father, and perhaps more humane..."  
  
Tenou shut his eyes at that and drew Ashura against him once more. "I think I know what Ashura must mean to you," he said softly. "He has been here for only three days, but I already love him more than I have loved anyone in many years."  
  
"Then you are as foolish as you are wise, Tenou-- as foolish as I." Yasha touched Ashura's bare shoulder lightly. "Behold the God of War," he said ironically.  
  
"I love you too, Tenou," Ashura whispered.  
  
"I am very glad you still do, Ashura. What I did was so cruel... but it was the only way out I could see. I knew that you and Yasha would be true to me."  
  
Yasha said nothing at that, only remembering the look in Tenou's eye the moment he had made the decision to let Ashura live-- the moment Ashura had forgiven him. Best that Ashura not realize how close death had really come. The situation was even more complicated than he had imagined.  
  
Tenou released Ashura suddenly and turned his sibling toward the bed with a pat on the back. "You must be exhausted, dear heart," he said. "Why don't you lie down now and let me and Yasha talk about the boring stuff." It was an order, and Ashura took it as such, trotting back after an affectionate look to climb into the huge bed and scramble under the covers. "I will be back soon, Ashura," Yasha said soothingly as he and Tenou stepped just outside the massive door and closed it firmly before turning to Tenou without pause. "There will be war in Zenmijou if you keep us here. No matter your strength, Tenou, you will not be able to stop it. Many will believe the sacrifice was staged. The Council--"  
  
"I know my own Council. But I am Tentei!" Tenou's tone brooked no arguing. "My word is law. I respect the wishes of my people, but... it is better to have him here than running loose like a tiger in the forest." Tenou looked meaningfully at Yasha.  
  
"Better...? I do not know. But I wish Ashura whatever happiness that is still possible in this life." Yasha's single eye was dark with past griefs. "And that does not include being the cause of still more death!" He sighed. "But ultimately that is between you and Ashura. To stay here is foolishness, to leave is wise. I have done what I can."  
  
There was a moment's silence as each reflected on the other's words. Then Tenou said: "I understand also. I will go now and leave you to your rest."  
  
Yasha bowed deeply. "Tentei... I do not doubt your strength. I do not doubt that you could put down any insurrection, even one staged by the Twelve. I said what I said for the protection of innocents. But I have one more thing to say.  
  
"In a way you are as childish as your twin. I see the intentions you hide even from yourself. Your physical flaws--" Yasha pointed, and Tenou looked startled. "You are trying to prove your strength to yourself-- even at the expense of your people. Be aware of that!"  
  
"You may see my faults, both surface and soul," Tenou replied at last. "But you do not see all, Yasha-ou. Not yet." And with that, the Emporer turned and left briskly, his robe whipping behind him.  
  
Yasha re-entered the room and locked the door, then stretched out next to his companion. "Oh, Ashura..." he murmured. "We are being driven like leaves before a wind..."  
  
"It does not matter," Ashura replied drowsily. "There is a resting place at last for every single leaf." The yellow eyes gazed at him for a moment. "I do not know what you and my brother were talking about... But I will trust my Yasha that I do not need to know."  
  
Yasha smiled and said nothing, only reaching for Ashura as he settled down to sleep. 


	9. Kama Sutra

Chapter 8: Kama Sutra  
  
Yasha stood in the covered atrium by the practice arena, watching the gathering crowd as attendants brought his new armor.  
  
He had certainly struck home when he'd pointed out Tenou's flaws. The Emporer had not even given them time to rejuvenate from the "sacrifice" before he had publicly announced a sparring match between Yasha and himself. Less than two days since Ashura had been on the sacrificial altar, and now Yasha would be in the arena facing Vajra, the Thunderbolt. He could not possibly win-- and Tenou couldn't let him anyway. It would not hurt for the Emporer to publicly drive home his domination of Yasha and Ashura a second time; but the Emporer was driven in this by more than politics.  
  
Besides, Tenou's politics were going to come apart at the seams. Yasha could not quite fathom the man; intelligent but driven, loving his people and his twin, yet risking everything with his pride and his desire to prove himself once and for all.  
  
Yasha stood tall and impassive as the armor was fastened on him piece by piece. It was not unlike his old set, emblazoned with the magical colors red, black, and white. He waved away the light black cloak. Showy, but an impediment. Ashura was nearby, dressed in white silk with golden ornaments and waiting silently behind a gauze veil.  
  
Yasha's attendants proceeded efficiently with their task, then, bowing, they left the room quickly.  
  
"Come out, Ashura," Yasha said, aware Ashura was feeling a bit useless. "May I have a token from you?"  
  
"What's that, Yasha?"  
  
"It is something worn by a combatant's loved one. It will bring me good luck."  
  
Ashura thought hard, frowning. Yasha suppressed a smile as he clearly saw the other's mind consider the everpresent choker necklace before realizing it wouldn't fit around Yasha's muscular neck. Then Ashura reached up suddenly, and a long cascade of obsidian hair fell to the floor all around them as Ashura removed Gigei's hairpiece. Yasha did smile then, and sat down on a footstool. "Please fasten my hair for me, Ashura."  
  
Ashura did so carefully, with an air of importance. When everything was ready, Yasha stood up again and shifted from foot to foot, walking once in a circle with Ashura to his right. "You realize I cannot win this contest," he said. "But your token may save me from broken bones!"  
  
"Break no bones, Yasha-- yours or Tenou's!"  
  
Yasha sniff-kissed Ashura's head lightly and sent his companion off with a gentle pat. "Go take the seat Tenou has given to you. Be careful of this crowd, Ashura. I will be in the arena soon."  
  
Upon leaving the atrium, Ashura was met by four of Tenou's personal guards. The procession to the place Tenou had given his sibling was a strange one. Ashura felt vertigo upon seeing the faces of so many gods. So many expressions. Surprise, enchantment... fear, hatred... For the rest of the way, Tenkai's last Ashura-ou watched the floor, not the crowd as Yasha had instructed, at last reaching a place by the Emporer's own empty seat. Once settled in and protected by more guards, Ashura's golden eyes began to brighten with excitement.  
  
Yasha still stood in the atrium ready for combat, waiting for the Emporer's entrance into the arena. Since the moment they had first met in the Audience Hall, he had been aware that the Emporer was badly handicapped on the right side by a twisted arm. Most likely the injury dealt him by Ashura two thousand years before. He concealed it very well and Yasha felt that it was not common knowledge. Fortunate for Tenou that the injury had been on his shield arm. His sibling could not have known Tenou was lefthanded...?  
  
Yasha knew far better than to underestimate Taishakuten's son. Nevertheless, he knew he must fight in such a manner as to not publicly reveal Tenou's weak point. This would entail the use of Ki rather than hand-to-hand combat, and should provide quite a show.  
  
He wondered if Tenou had fully considered the possible consequences of this match or if he was just supremely confident in himself, or in Yasha's discretion.  
  
He heard the roar of applause as the beloved Emporer of Zenmijou entered at last. Tenou stood solidly in the arena with a relaxed air of complete confidence, Vajra, the Thunderbolt, in his left hand, a golden shield on his right arm. The crowd cheered on and on.  
  
Yasha drew a deep breath and stepped out. His thick black mane, done up in a topknot barely held in place by Ashura's hairclip, did not quite drag in the sand. He bore no shield, only Yamato. Light flashed from the blade. Immediately the applause turned to catcalls and jeers. The old warrior experienced a vertigo not unlike Ashura's as he strode calmly across the hard-packed, pure white sand.  
  
Tenou turned to the vast crowd and silenced the catcalls with a curt wave of his hand, then faced Yasha. "Yasha-ou!" he called in a clear voice that carried far. "Are you prepared to be defeated?"  
  
"Never!" was Yasha's reply. Tenou's eyebrow quirked at the answer. Without further formality the contest began.  
  
Yasha started the battle hard and fast with his Ki at a strength usually reserved for mazoku. Tenou deflected the searing light without apparent effort. His one-handed counterattack threw Yasha half a hundred feet through the air down the arena's length. Yasha backflipped in full armor and lit on his feet with unreal agility, his hair flying around him. Ashura cheered in surprise at the stunt, then fell silent, feeling the watching eyes of the crowd.  
  
Yasha was murmuring to Yamato. The sword's eyes glowed red. Ashura clenched both fists, feeling Shurato quivering inside. Ashura hushed her gently.  
  
Yasha did not hesitate further but invoked the Heavenly Wolf, a searing flash of energy that could have leveled a battalion. The sound of the shockwave rolling around the city walls was like thunder in the mountains. Tenou withstood it, not giving an inch, his golden shield upraised with both arms, long red hair streaming straight backward. Quickly he brought Vajra to bear upon the warrior god. This time Yasha was hit with such force that he was tumbled into the sand. The crowd roared.  
  
"Enough!" cried Tenou and Ashura at the same time.  
  
Ashura leaped down from the royal dais and vaulted the arena wall as Yasha dragged himself upright with a grim smile and spat out a mouthful of blood. "I concede!" Ashura came to his side. Tenou offered his hand to Yasha, who took it readily.  
  
"Yasha!" said Ashura. "You have a bad nosebleed!"  
  
Yasha smiled reassuringly. "It is nothing. Look away now. Do not look at my blood!"  
  
"You had better let my physician take care of it quickly," Tenou said seriously as they made their way together back to the atrium, leaving a trail of red on the white sand. "I am sorry. I didn't intend that."  
  
"You have all your father's strength, Tentei. I am fortunate it is no worse!"  
  
* * *  
  
The next day, Yasha spent most of his time sitting quietly, polishing his new armor. Tenou's physician had done a good job stopping the bleeding, but Yasha wasn't going to push his luck. Ashura, dressed in splendorous silliness in a green and gold sari with no matching blouse, spent the morning waiting anxiously on him until Yasha finally shoo'd his companion out of the room with a fond smile. "Go to the Peacock Garden," he said. "There you will find people to meet and better things to do. I am all right. Just watch yourself. Do not take any food offered you by anyone, and do not stray out of the Garden. Tenou has posted guards." It was the same lecture he had given every day they'd been here, and Ashura sighed impatiently.  
  
After solemnly promising to eat no food from strangers, Ashura wandered off, feeling somewhat disconsolate. Yasha's defeat in the duel, though it had been inevitable, had subdued them both, and the aborted sacrifice still lay heavy on Ashura's mind.  
  
Wandering under a flowering tree, Ashura spied a small and fragile woman sitting upon the grass. Though she appeared very frail, her face was radiant with some nameless inner joy. She sat on a silk cushion in a ray of sunlight, dangling a shining string of pearls to tease her pet peacock. Ashura approached her a little unsteadily, for she seemed like someone eerily familiar. The feeling grew stronger the closer Ashura came. Then she looked up, and Ashura almost fell over with astonishment. Though her face was nothing like the one Ashura remembered, there was somehow no mistaking her. "Karura!!"  
  
She stroked the peacock's iridescent neck as though musing. "Hello. Some people do say that I am she, reborn. You must be the Ashura."  
  
"Yes, I'm still Ashura. I mean-- Kujaku brought me back, you know. Oh, Karura! I'm so glad to see you again!" Ashura sat down at her feet.  
  
She reached to lay a hand on Ashura's glossy black head. "My name is Shaunakaa. You have such lovely hair! How could the Council put you through such frightening things?!"  
  
"Where is Karyoubinga?" Ashura asked eagerly, ignoring her questions. "You told me about her a long time ago."  
  
Shaunakaa blinked, confused. "Karyoubinga?"  
  
"Your little sister!"  
  
She smiled gently at Ashura and flicked the string of pearls to her peacock. "I have no little sister."  
  
The delight Ashura had felt turned upside down in an instant. "No... That can't be! Karura! You lived for Karyoubinga..."  
  
She placed a finger to her lips in a quieting gesture. "Ashura, you must understand. I was told by Shuki that I once had a little sister who was very dear to me, and sometimes I almost remember her... Just as I almost remember you."  
  
* * *  
  
Ashura wandered alone in the Peacock Garden for an hour or so. There were no stones to kick. Every white peacock was reminiscent of Garuda. "Karyoubinga..." muttered Ashura, standing near the vine-covered bower that hung high over the foaming pool a hundred feet below. The noise of the waterfall seemed almost dizzying.  
  
Going across the middle of the garden to avoid Shaunakaa, Ashura was suddenly stopped short near the two temples by an intriguing sight. A remarkable looking young man with golden brown skin and large dark eyes sat crosslegged with a bow by his side and a heavy parchment scroll on his lap. He had a pen made of a peacock's plume and he wrote leisurely, dipping the tip of the quill into an exotic red coral inkwell. Ashura took a second look at the inkwell and blushed brightly just as the man glanced up, shaking wavy dark hair out of his face. "Oh, Ashura! I've been expecting to meet you. Sit down!"  
  
Ashura sat, awkwardly folding those long legs and rearranging the stubbornly wayward sari. "Are you Kama?"  
  
"Yes I am, and I'm honored to meet you." Kama's voice was low and musical, as befitted the God of Love.  
  
"What's that you're writing?" Ashura scooted sideways to see the scroll. Kama held it up. "In future times I will incarnate as a human sage, Vatsayayana, and he will write the Kama Sutra for mankind. This is that same Sutra, but written for the gods." He winked.  
  
"I wish I could read it," Ashura said. "Perhaps Yasha will read it to me one day."  
  
"I'll teach you to read it. That's my job."  
  
Ashura's eyes widened. "Tenou chose --you-- to be my tutor? I was expecting Ganapati!"  
  
"My, what an ego we have here! No, your old cousin has a hundred thousand thousand other things on his mind, as always. I, on the other hand, lead a life of relative leisure. I shoot a few arrows each day--" he patted his quiver-- "sit back, and enjoy the results!"  
  
"Did you shoot me and Yasha?"  
  
"I hit you both with a single arrow. One of my best shots. Changed fate!"  
  
"So it wasn't me after all..."  
  
"Oh, you changed fate all right, but it was I who gave you the reason to do so, and I got that power from another god, and so on, right back to the Beginning. And now I will give you the ability to make sense of this alphabet. So pay attention!"  
  
Ashura sat straighbacked, legs crossed, and Kama held up his book. "This script is called Devanagari. It is the writing of the gods. First you will learn to spell your name." He set the book on his knee and reached for another quill and a piece of thick parchment, which he handed to his student before picking up his own, rather distracting, pen. "A-SU-RA... There. Good. The top line is drawn like this... Very good. Then mine, KA-MA--"  
  
"Yasha," Ashura said stubbornly.  
  
"All right, all right... Perhaps I shot too well, you two are certainly still stuck together. See here. YA-KSHA, 'demon.' There is no written "A" except at the begining of a word, or if it is sounded long, like Shaunakaa..." Kama paused suddenly. "What did I say?"  
  
Ashura put down quill and parchment, looking up. "I just met her. It's Karura. She's forgotten her sister."  
  
"Ah, your thoughts are so transparent. Does love last? Sometimes. There is always a reason if it fades. Now my wife has been with me for several lifetimes and we have never forgotten one another. But of course, I hunted and shot her very carefully indeed!"  
  
"Did you have to shoot yourself too?"  
  
Kama fell sideways and began to laugh so hard his whole body shook. "Oh gods!..." Eventually righting himself, he regarded his student more soberly. "I wish I were teaching you other things... But I presume too much. Judging by your preoccupation with clothes, jewelry and Yasha-ou, you are no stranger to my favorite art. Tell me, if you would-- for I may need one more chapter in my book-- what is it like to be genderless? I have seen many interesting people in Tenkai, including some who are of both genders, but none so interesting as you."  
  
Ashura looked away, taken aback, somewhat flattered and uncomfortable all at the same time. After spending some minutes gathering words and wits together while Kama merely sat and waited, Ashura said: "No one has ever asked me what that felt like. Not even Yasha.  
  
"I guess... Well, when I was very young I had no feeling of being really different. I knew I was not the same as Yasha, because we often bathed and slept together. I did not look like him, so I thought I must be a girl. It was simple, and he said nothing about it. But then I remember stopping at an old temple in the jungle and looking at all the carvings, and suddenly realizing not one of them looked like me at all... Ryuu..." Ashura fell silent for a moment, battling sudden tears, then continued calmly. "Ryuu said I was just a very rare kind of person.  
  
"I was troubled by that. I asked Yasha that night what kind of person has no breasts. All the temple statues had breasts. Even Yasha has breasts. He looked sad when I asked him about it. I don't think he knew what to say." Ashura smiled gently. "He's like that. Everything he really wants to say, he can say better without words... He told me to go ask Souma, that she was a Healer and could explain it better than he. So I did. And she told me that I was neither woman nor man. I could never enjoy the same as everyone else, and I could never have children. No more Ashuras. I cried when she said it.  
  
"But she also said I was free to choose whatever I wanted to be, that I could do things just as I pleased and not worry about any of those weird rules, like why Yasha can't wear a dress and things like that! That was good. It was probably when I first began really thinking hard about Yasha too, what he might like me to wear. How he was so strong and tall, and I... I felt like a girl, maybe, in his presence. Does that make any sense?" Ashura glanced at Kama shyly.  
  
"It makes perfect sense. In relation to Yasha, you are womanlike, for he is far more masculine than you. But in relation to someone else, you might be more masculine. This would in fact be a perfect situation for you, Ashura... If only you could enjoy it."  
  
"Oh, but I can after all! I can, Yasha showed me how!" Ashura's eyes dilated with memories of past excitement.  
  
"How?" Kama's intent look betrayed nothing but honest interest.  
  
Ashura turned bright red and looked away. "Well... It's his kisses, Kama, they are the most wonderful kisses in the whole world. Some days I can think of nothing else except how much I need them."  
  
Kama smiled gently. "You don't have to go on if you don't want to. My question was mostly professional. Part of my job, God of Love and all..."  
  
Ashura pretended to study the landscape around them, then giggled a little and lay back on the grass, arms crossed behind head. "It... I don't know. This is kind of fun." White teeth flashed in the filtered sunlight.  
  
* * *  
  
Shukidevi leaned over her water mirror, a hand on either side. Her voice shook. "The Dragon stirs... Seiryuu is on the march, and the entire clan with him."  
  
"What, even the children?" Tenou was incredulous.  
  
"Even the children. Not one is left behind." She straightened, grim- faced. "My lord. If they pursue their present course they will be killed. Please, listen to me! You must send your brother away from here!"  
  
Tenou's jaw set. "Send a messenger to Shesha, my general. Tell him to station a battalion in the Southern Reaches, but to kill only if there is no other way. Tell him to block the passes instead. And to get the ships out to sea."  
  
* * *  
  
Ashura giggled again in delight, telling the story of how, one night in the jungle, Yasha had first conceded to dance. "...And he spun me round and round until we were both as dizzy as drunkards!"  
  
At the end of the writing lesson, (when they got back to it) Ashura could spell several names and, thanking Kama profusely, left with tangible regret. Kama was so easygoing and likeable, so full of laughter yet so attuned to feelings which others might only be amused by.  
  
Venturing out again later in the afternoon, Ashura ran immediately into Tenou himself. The Emporer was standing still in the courtyard of the Temple Garden as if indecisive. He seemed lost in thought, but when Ashura hesitated, he came to his senses immediately. "Ashura! Just who I wanted to see."  
  
Coming shyly close, Ashura offered a tremulous smile. Tenou did not return it but took Ashura's arm seriously. "Walk with me."  
  
They wandered through the temple grounds in the golden light.  
  
"How is Yasha?"  
  
"Much better, thank you. He spent all day polishing the new armor you gave him. Are you going to make him a general?"  
  
"Did he say that?!"  
  
"Oh, no, brother! I was just wondering."  
  
"Hm."  
  
"Tenou? What's bothering you?"  
  
"Nothing that should concern you, Ashura..." Tenou's eyes were deeply apologetic. "I'm sorry, brother. I've been acting like such a bear lately. I shouldn't have challenged Yasha at all..."  
  
"It's not something I did, is it?"  
  
Tenou stopped. "Something you did," he repeated to the air. Then he turned, grasping Ashura by both shoulders. "Yasha has not taught you how to think of yourself, has he?"  
  
"Of course he has."  
  
"No he hasn't. Yasha has taught you how to fight and how to love, but outside of those battlefields, he was never known as guru material. It is his strength and loyalty that he is legendary for."  
  
Ashura came near to bristling, but controlled it. "Yasha lets his actions speak for him."  
  
"Yes. I wish to teach you how to think of yourself, Ashura. You're living in pain Yasha doesn't know how to stop."  
  
"Tenou, you must remember what happened--"  
  
"--Yes, yes! Only too well!"  
  
"And--" Ashura pressed the issue-- "what might happen again if I stay here much longer. It's that that's bothering you, isn't it, brother? You wanted to come and tell me to go, but you don't want me to leave."  
  
"Do you want to leave?"  
  
"...No." Ashura glanced around, making sure no one could hear them. "But I can hear the priests whispering among themselves. They are taking sides. And something else is going on. I don't know what, but I can feel it."  
  
Tenou sighed. "It's Seiryuu. He still wants revenge."  
  
Ashura's face turned pale and urgent. "Tenou! Tenou, I killed Ryuu, I can't stand any more. I loved Ryuu, he was my friend. And I killed him. Seiryuu has a right to his revenge!"  
  
"You were not yourself. You have to learn to forgive yourself, Ashura, just as I have forgiven you. And Yasha has forgiven you too. But you must forgive yourself and let it go, as Seiryuu cannot."  
  
Ashura looked away and back, like a helpless bird trapped. "But how?! Tenou-- if something happens to that clan, I will kill myself! Let me go!"  
  
"It's too late. Even if I let you go, Seiryuu would not stop his march on Zenmijou."  
  
Ashura's eyes were huge with horror. Tenou caught his sibling up in his strong arms and they clung to one another. "Ashura. You cannot kill yourself, for Yasha needs you, and so do I. You must live. You must!"  
  
Ashura was weeping quietly. "I knew this might happen... But I could not refuse your call..."  
  
"That's right. You literally could not refuse. You were forced to come here. So you see, what's happening now is not your fault. It will never be your fault." Tenou lifted Ashura in his arms and sat down on a nearby bench, rocking the other very gently, just as Yasha sometimes did. Ashura still clung to him like a needy child.  
  
"Don't worry, Ashura. My army is vast. They will block Seiryuu's path with stones and keep him from the sea routes. I have ordered my general Shesha not to kill."  
  
"Truly, brother?"  
  
Tenou kissed Ashura's forehead tenderly. "Truly. I do not wish to hurt anybody. Least of all, you."  
  
* * *  
  
So the Ryuu clan was on the march. Yasha paced the floor. Seiryuu's company would be slaughtered, he thought, and Ashura would take the blow. Did Varuna have anything to do with it? Did the Twelve hope that Ashura might be driven to suicide a second time?  
  
Damn Tenou! Yasha swore silently. How could such a strong Emporer be so weak?!  
  
Nevertheless, he and Ashura said nothing about it over dinner. They ate quietly and quietly they went to bed.  
  
"Yasha?"  
  
"Mm."  
  
"Please, let's have a wedding..."  
  
"All right, love. When shall it be?" His voice was very tender. Ashura did not hear the sadness he felt.  
  
"Tenou consulted the temple astrologers for us. They said the next full moon would be very auspicious."  
  
"Then the next full moon it is." Will Seiryuu be dead by then--? Yasha thought bitterly.  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha sought an audience with Tenou the next day, while Ashura was away with Kama. He was respectful, but he did not stand on ceremony. "Your Highness, let us go. I do not want to see the last of a noble clan slaughtered."  
  
"Shesha has achieved a truce of sorts, Yasha-ou. The Naga women, children, and half-men are all turning back. Shuki has seen it."  
  
"That clan will never back down. They're up to something."  
  
"The men intend to fight, of course. But the clan will not be slaughtered, I promise you."  
  
"You cannot guarantee it." Yasha fell silent for a long, thoughtful moment, then abruptly changed the subject. "Tenou. I have a promise to fulfill here."  
  
"I know."  
  
Yasha did not betray any surprise. "You will make arrangements?"  
  
"That promise binds you here, but I do not wish to torment Shuki. I will consult with her. Now, I must ask your leave. I have other matters that are pressing."  
  
Yasha left to stride through the Peacock Garden. As he neared a hidden corner of the Temple complex, he heard Ashura's laughter and drew near quietly. What he saw almost made him forget that there was an upcoming war.  
  
Kama had Ashura on his lap, nose to nose, and Ashura was blushing. Yasha's single eye twinkled and he listened closely.  
  
"Kama... you are the God of Love. I am the God of War."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I made a promise to Yasha."  
  
"Yasha will always be yours. The love of War and Death has always been and always will be."  
  
Yasha stole away quietly. The God of Love was irresistible, of course. Best let Ashura enjoy while enjoying was to be had. He retired to their quarters to think.  
  
* * *  
  
Kama caught Ashura's upper lip gently between his teeth and the War God gasped, clasping his delicious body. Their full mouths were a match for one another. Kama's hands were as tender as Yasha's and they were all over, shamelessly exploring. "K- Kama," breathed Ashura when the kiss was finally broken. "Please-- my secret belongs to Yasha..."  
  
Kama drew back a little to meet Ashura's eyes. "I would never steal your innocence. Yasha has not taken you, has he?"  
  
"...No." Ashura blushed again. "I want him to. But he says I am too different. He's afraid to, Kama."  
  
"His fear is irrational, instinctive."  
  
"You almost sound like you know him," Ashura said slowly. "Have... Did you love Yasha?!"  
  
"I did, a very long time ago. Love and War attract. Love and Death, even more so."  
  
"Please, when did you know him? Tell me!"  
  
"I came to him before he was a king. But I already knew about the Prophecy, so I did not stay long." Kama touched Ashura's face. "I left his heart with all the love I could fill it with-- the love he gives to you."  
  
* * *  
  
"...Yasha, Oh Yasha! I feel like crying!"  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"I... I have to tell you something horrible..."  
  
Yasha bent suddenly to lift Ashura up in his arms, carrying the long-legged figure kicking and protesting across the room, with the ornate pallu of the sari trailing over the marble floor. "Yashaa...! You will get your nosebleed back!" Yasha ignored this, laying Ashura down gently on their bed and leaning over his love. "Now tell me... what is this horrible thing?" His single eye sparkled. "What is this disshevelled hair I see, and your clothes all in disarray? What are these teeth marks on your shoulder? Could it be you that I saw today, making love with Kama in the Temple Grove...?"  
  
"Yasha!" Ashura gasped with astonishment. "You saw?! And you did not kill him?"  
  
"Why should I kill him when he was making you so happy?"  
  
Long silence. Yasha gazed at that lovely face with deep affection. Finally Ashura spoke in small voice. "But Yasha. Didn't it hurt you? I didn't want to ever hurt you! I didn't want to break our promise!"  
  
"You never broke our promise. You can never betray me by loving someone else. It did hurt. Then I saw how very happy you were, and heard you laugh, and I knew the God of Love could please you like no one else-- even myself. He cannot be resisted, Ashura. So what is a small wound on my heart, which is healing as I speak, compared to the wounds you have suffered, which are still festering? Now..." he whispered, drawn closer by the parted pink lips, "Teach me what Kama taught you..."  
  
"Oh, Kama was not teaching me so much as I was teaching Kama!"  
  
Yasha laughed richly and flung his robe aside. "Somehow I am not surprised!"  
  
But something else was bothering Ashura. Yasha did not take more than a kiss or two before simply holding his loved one in his arms. After a time, Ashura wriggled out of them and lay curled up tightly, a small shape on the big bed.  
  
Yasha lay an arm over his companion. Something more serious was about to spill out. "Speak to me. Is it Seiryuu?"  
  
"Yes. But there's something else..." Ashura recounted the meeting with Shaunakaa/Karura. "...But she did not remember her sister, Yasha... Why did she not remember, while Kama gets the same wife in every lifetime?"  
  
Yasha sighed. "I don't know. Perhaps part of her does remember, for she is frail and sickly, like Karyoubinga once was. Perhaps she accepted Karyoubinga's karmas so her sister might go free to Samadhi without further delay. Perhaps... Perhaps forgetting was part of the price."  
  
"...Will we forget each other?"  
  
Yasha was silent for a long time. He would not give Ashura false promises. At last he said: "I swore to protect you always. That is my intent."  
  
"You are not answering my question! Yasha... You are the God of Death! Can't you do something?"  
  
"No, Ashura. I am subject to Mahadeva, as are all lesser gods. People die at their appointed times; my existence is only the instrument. It happens by itself. It is happening as I speak. There is an old lady in Lower Zenmijou who has just left her body... She is very happy... And a young man who is dying of a fever. He does not want to die, but he will have to leave anyway in a short time, because of me. Because I exist. Ashura, even the people you once slaughtered really died because I am in the world. I am Death." He sighed heavily. "But even Death must die one day. I don't know if we will forget each other. I pray that we do not."  
  
Ashura's eyes were wide, almost vacant. Yasha kissed his love very tenderly.  
  
"Yasha... Kama shot Taishakuten... And my father. If he had not... "  
  
"Yes. I know."  
  
"I should hate him..."  
  
"But you can't."  
  
"Yasha. Why did Tenou do this? Why did he make Kama my teacher?"  
  
"I don't know. Perhaps to show you that there is a reason for all of your suffering, that there were forces far beyond your control directing the destiny of the clans. Kama cannot be resisted. In the realm of Love he is all-powerful... and love can drive men mad." 


	10. Night Flight

Chapter 9: Night Flight  
  
The next evening, the Emporer appeared unexpectedly at their quarters just after dinner.  
  
"Tenou!" Ashura quickly let him in and shut the door. Yasha stood and bowed. "Tentei. How goes it with Seiryuu?"  
  
"My army is cutting off the passes. My navy is blockading the sea routes, and Seiryuu is making camp as though for a seige."  
  
"That's odd," Yasha said thoughtfully. "The northern reaches are not dependent on any vital items from the south. What can he hope to gain?"  
  
Ashura sighed. "If I were there--"  
  
"--No," said the Emporer. "He is after me as much as you. But remember, we outnumber him a hundred to one. No, he is not why I came." Tenou smiled almost sheepishly. "I have to get out of this place, if only for just a few hours! I was going up to my favorite spot on Mount Meru and I thought you might like to see it."  
  
Ashura turned to Yasha, who smiled. "You go with him, Ashura. I will stay here."  
  
"But don't you want to see Meru at night?"  
  
"I already have, and it is a memory not easily forgotten. Go now. Spend time with your brother."  
  
* * *  
  
Tenou set Ashura on top of his white dragonhorse in the soft moonlight, then vaulted up behind the saddle. "Put your feet in the stirrups!"  
  
Ashura clutched the snowy mane tightly, balancing precariously. Tenou wrapped one arm tight about the other's waist. "Don't worry! I won't let you fall!"  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"Meghaduta!" The winged steed sprang forward into a gallop, and then they were flying. It was as smooth as a dream of clouds. Ashura's eyes were huge as they rose through layers of mist, the only sound that of giant wings.  
  
Higher and higher they flew, a speck against the moon, until they were surrounded by stars. Ashura laughed for joy, the sound seeming strange and new and wonderful. Tenou was smiling broadly, the wind in his face and tangling his flying hair. Ashura leaned into him and he glanced into those golden eyes and was held by them. Ashura was so beautiful when happy that it broke his heart. The Emporer pressed his cheek to his brother's. "See there!" he said as he held Ashura close. "That is Mount Meru, the center of Heaven and Earth!" A huge white crag reflected the moonlight above them. "Once I flew right to the top!"  
  
"Is it true the Water of Life is there?"  
  
"The Water of Life does flow somewhere on Meru, but I have not yet found it."  
  
They flew closer and closer to the mountain, the stars wheeling round it overhead, until Meghaduta began to break a sweat. When they finally landed, it was on a gentle slope where white frost-lilies grew in a secluded glen under the moon. Tenou handed Ashura down from the saddle and hobbled his steed by the wings, which had been pierced with steel rings. He fastened these together with a decorative chain. The animal snorted and began to graze the fine, moss-like grass.  
  
"Megh was given to me by my father a long time ago. Now come," said Tenou. "This was my resting-spot when I first ascended the mountain. I've brought food!" He pulled a cloth and some packages from the saddlebags.  
  
Despite having just had dinner with Yasha, Ashura happily ate everything Tenou offered, much to the Emporer's amusement. "How can such a thin creature eat so much?" he wondered aloud.  
  
"Yasha asks the same thing," Ashura said carelessly, devouring a pear.  
  
Tenou watched his sibling thoughtfully. Before him sat a dream some would risk death to possess, a dream currently oblivious to itself. Ashura's fine jet hair was like shadow, wrapping round the richly clad body like black wings. But the eyes, deep golden wells, seemed in an eerie way to be the eyes of a child living for the moment, unsophisticated.  
  
"Tenou," Ashura said unexpectedly. "Tell me what it is like to be Emporer."  
  
Tenou was a bit startled, but replied readily. "I know my life has been easier than yours, Ashura. But it has been, in truth, far from what most people think an Emporer enjoys."  
  
Ashura had finished eating, and was now watching him with the same steadiness he had just watched Ashura with. "How is that?"  
  
"You have Yasha."  
  
Ashura was silent, gazing up at him.  
  
"Lower down the mountain, there is a meadow where windflowers dance in the breeze," Tenou said finally. "I never go there anymore."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"It... is where I once took Kendappa-ou."  
  
Ashura froze.  
  
"You are not responsible for what happened to her, Ashura. She chose to side with my father."  
  
"She was your your loved one?!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Ashura blinked and was silent, not knowing what to say. Finally Tenou managed a smile. "I was young and stupid and far too infatuated to see that her heart was already taken. I was so stupid in so many ways back then. I thought my father really didn't care much about me, other than that I was his heir, and our mother Shashi... Well, anyway, a lot of people used me for their politics and greed, until I learned to recognize that... And my brother... For the longest time I thought I had no brother or sister, Ashura!" He looked away, and for a moment in the moonlight Ashura saw a younger face, the face from the old Zenmijou, and a totally open heart.  
  
Ashura sat quiet for a long time, finally stirring to ask: "How badly did I hurt you?"  
  
"When... When our mother died...?"  
  
"I remember it all, Tenou. I remember...!" Suddenly words poured forth. "I was a prisoner in my own body and... and the Black Ashura killed her, and took the seal, and stabbed you! I... I hurt you...!"  
  
Tenou drew a deep breath. Then he flipped his cloak back and pulled up his sleeve, exposing his arm, and one of the ugliest scars Ashura had ever seen. It made Yasha's disfigured face seem trivial. "I nearly lost my arm," Tenou said. His voice was mild, almost apologetic.  
  
Ashura gasped in horror. "Tenou! Oh, gods--!"  
  
"Hush... See? My hand still works well enough to hold a shield-- the thumb and two fingers are good. And I can bend my elbow, and turn my wrist somewhat." He continued steadily on over Ashura's horror. "It took a lot of time to learn to write with my other hand, but concealing this weakness is the most difficult part of it. Your Yasha was very loyal to me in the practice arena when we sparred, for he could have exposed that weakness and he deliberately chose not to. The people would never accept an imperfect Emporer, even after knowing me all this time. That is why my father--" Tenou stopped abruptly.  
  
"Why what, Tenou?"  
  
"Oh, nothing. Let's not talk about my father, Ashura." He drew his knees up and wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself. "That was another stupid thing," he murmured. "Why did I try to provoke Yasha so, when his loyalty was proven already by a far harder test...? What's wrong with me?"  
  
Ashura slid quietly to sit next to the Emporer, putting one arm around Tenou's shoulders. Tenou returned the gesture as Ashura spoke slowly, from deep inside the heart. "Tenou. If there was only some way I could undo what I have done... Only some way I could make this right, I would."  
  
"I know you would. I know."  
  
"Yasha and I are going to be wed soon. Did you know that?"  
  
"I am very glad. You deserve it, Ashura."  
  
"And then we are going to leave."  
  
Silence.  
  
"I... I did not know that." Tenou looked away, out over the world.  
  
"It's for the best, my dear, dear brother... Tenou?"  
  
"Ashura."  
  
"I know that at the sacrifice you almost let me be killed. No, no, don't pull away! It's all right! I would never have blamed you for it."  
  
"I-- Oh, Ashura...!!" Now Tenou was truly miserable.  
  
"No, listen. It is my own Yasha who plans to kill me someday. I know that too. It's the only thing he can do when he is finally ready to die himself, for no one else in the world can control my dark side. And it is the kindest thing for me. Without him my life would be a hundred hells. But it's not time yet. It's not time. And I want to save the Ryuu clan, and I want to help you get out of this mess your own love has gotten you into. So, after the wedding-- please, my brother, please-- Let us go!"  
  
Tenou drew a huge breath, but it was obvious he had already come to a decision on the matter. "Yes, I must. But Ashura, I do love you. I love you very much. I don't like to think of you and Yasha wandering all alone in this world."  
  
"We'll never be alone. Just like you saved us in Alaka, in the snowstorm, you can watch us with your miko any time you like. Just don't tell Yasha. He's really easy to embarrass!" Leaning to pluck a frost lily, Ashura placed it in the other's hand.  
  
"You are kind and sweet, Ashura," Tenou said tenderly. "And that shows Yasha's true nature as well, for he fostered you and taught you that kindness."  
  
Ashura paused, then leaned up to place a soft kiss on Tenou's cheek and put both arms around him and held him close. Tenou returned the embrace gently. Ashura noted that the warmth and security of his arms was not unlike Yasha's. "Ashura," whispered Tenou, and a tear welled from his eye.  
  
"Loneliness is written all over your face. Yasha says it is just the price of being Emporer, but I think it is unfair." Ashura hugged him tight. "But I love my brother and my heart will always be there for him."  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha was dreaming of Ashura, of long black hair and long white limbs binding themselves round him, and he moved to kiss his loved one, but for some reason he could not. Then he was dreaming of a red hibiscus flower-- no, dreaming of a hidden rose with the sweetest of dusky scents, a rose he wanted to devour. This was a flower in its prime, petals shining. He drank its scent with the hunger of one long-starved.  
  
The long limbs in the darkness wrapped themselves around him. He thrust himself into their embrace. The dark hair enveloped him. "Ashuraaa..." he moaned, his one eye sightless; but no God came to greet him in this dream, and his heart broke even in his bliss. "Ashura..."  
  
A low, feminine voice whispered in his ear. "It is I." Full lips brushed against his; but he turned his head away.  
  
* * *  
  
The morning sun just beginning to rise over Mount Meru was one of the most beautiful sights Ashura had ever seen. Tenou sat in the glade with an armful of lilies Ashura had gathered for him, looking out over Tenkai. Far away in the west, the golden glint of a vimana sparked for a moment in the sunrise before vanishing.  
  
Ashura sat at the Emporer's feet, still picking at the crumbs of their foodstuffs. "So just how big is this kingdom anyway?"  
  
Tenou chuckled. "In theory, I suppose I rule everything I can see from the top of this mountain, but in practice, I'm lucky to rule my own city!" He sighed. "Ashura, I wish I could just turn and leave and go into the forest and live like you have lived."  
  
"It is nice there, brother. There are no rules. I can eat whenever I want, and walk naked wherever I please!"  
  
Tenou suddenly laughed as something clicked. "Ashura is an exhibitionist!"  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Never mind." But Tenou seemed to find his sudden realization amusing.  
  
"I guess I will have to ask Yasha then," said Ashura.  
  
"You do that. Just don't tell him I said it! Now would you like to fly Meghaduta?"  
  
"Yes, brother!"  
  
They gathered up their food wrappings and picnic blanket and packed them into the saddlebags. Tenou fastened Vajra, which he had brought along, back to the saddle. He tightened the girth and tied his frost lilies to the harness before lifting Ashura up onto his steed. Then, unchaining Meghaduta's wings, he vaulted up to his seat behind Ashura, hanging onto the harness. Leaning forward, he spoke in Ashura's attentive ear. "To make him fly fast, just let the reins loose. He loves to fly fast! To make him slow down, keep the reins a little tighter."  
  
"All right. Hang on!" Ashura dug both heels boldly into Meghaduta's sides, who snorted and leaped into a gallop from a standing start. Tenou uttered a startled shout.  
  
Meghaduta took off by holding both wings rigidly extended. When he was running fast enough, he was simply lifted into the air. Ashura watched attentively as the dragonhorse flapped those leathery wings only after the tips would clear the ground on the first downstroke. Tenou's distant laughter followed them as Ashura slacked the reins too much and Meghaduta began to climb high above the clouds. Ashura glanced back in shock and saw Tenou sprawling in a patch of frost lilies below. "Meghaduta!" cried Ashura, pulling on the reins. "We have to go back!"  
  
The great steed shook his sculptured head, but obeyed not Ashura, but instead a long whistle from Tenou himself, swerving so sharply Ashura was reduced to clinging to the mighty neck before the dragonhorse finally landed with incredible delicacy not three feet from where Tenou sat in the weeds. Ashura scrambled down from the animal's back. "Tenou! Are you all right?!"  
  
"Yes, yes!" Tenou was still grinning and rubbing his backside. "That was an excellent takeoff, Ashura! I haven't ridden him like that since I was very young! Shall we try it again?"  
  
* * *  
  
Takeoff was less abrupt the second time around-- and Tenou was holding onto the harness much more tightly. "It doesn't take him much effort to glide down from a height," he said, "So you can fly him as high as you want, Ashura!"  
  
"How high will he fly?"  
  
"As high as the air will hold him!"  
  
As they rose through the grey morning mist, suddenly they hit the level of the sun and all the sky around them turned to gold. Meghaduta's mane, Ashura's hair, the blinding clouds, all made of the richest gold. They circled the mountain, climbing higher and higher, and Ashura's mouth was open in astonishment at the glistening of huge gems in its rocks, and thousand-foot waterfalls shimmering down its sides. Even this high up Meru harbored a few trees and other life. Once they saw a sage waving at them, and they waved back. "He's a sannyasa," Tenou said happily. "I don't know how he does it, but he lives on water, air and grass! A lot of hermits live here... And even some gods!"  
  
"How come you ascended Mount Meru before?" Ashura, getting more comfortable handling Meghaduta, held the reins loosely in one hand and leaned back into the crook of Tenou's warm arm.  
  
"It's part of the ritual of becoming Emporer. Vajra returns to the top of Meru after the death of every Emporer, so their successor must prove themselves by getting it. Of course, you might say that with Meghaduta on my side, I cheated!" Tenou's voice was thoughtful. "My father's gift of him was unexpected. Nothing else I ever received was as splendid as Megh. And... my father seemed very pleased that I was pleased. I have wondered... I have wondered just what he knew..."  
  
Ashura turned slightly to look at the Emporer. Tenou's face was suddenly haunted and wistful. "He knew you would be badly hurt some day, and that you could never climb this mountain on your own."  
  
"Yes. That is what I think, Ashura."  
  
Ashura turned back, looking between the great dragonhorse's pricked ears at a flock of distant birds. "You are lucky to have gotten this horse, Tenou."  
  
"Am I? He made me Emporer."  
  
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by Meghaduta himself, who uttered a deafening cry and snort which shook his ribs violently and made both Ashura and Tenou grab for the harness. The flock of birds out in front of them were not birds at all, but Meghaduta's wild sisters and brothers, and he suddenly strained at the bit as he flew after them. Tenou reached around Ashura to take the reins, but he did not try to restrain his winged friend. "Ashura! Ashura! Look! I had no idea that there were any others like him!"  
  
"It's a whole flock of them, Tenou!"  
  
"I'll let him get closer."  
  
The wild winged horses did not seem to mind Meghaduta's presence, but greeted him with whinnying of their own. Careless foals and yearlings swooped and circled around them like swallows, so Ashura and Tenou ducked. One accident and they would be knocked out of the air. Tenou found himself briefly glad that Yasha could not see them now. Nevertheless, they could not bring themselves to leave. The flock circled widely around them. Between the golden sun-rays Ashura caught glimpses of golden hides and silver hides; bronze and blue and spotted hides all polished from the wind, and long expanses of mighty, shining wings. The stallion, at the vanguard, snorted a challenge, and only then did Tenou rein Meghaduta to fly slower, increasing their distance.  
  
"We could land on one of Meru's foothills, Ashura, and turn him loose," Tenou said after a few minutes.  
  
"How will we get back?"  
  
"I can call a vimana to pick us up."  
  
"Really?" Ashura considered this, and considered Meghaduta's quivering neck and eager snorts. "Why don't we let him decide?"  
  
"Megh?" Tenou gently tightened the reins, setting his horse's head and causing him to glide. The wild dragonhorses followed them down through layers of clouds, keeping a bowshot away.  
  
They landed finally on a small hill perhaps two thousand feet above the plain. Zenmijou glimmered in the sky above them, its air traffic unabated despite the earliness of the morning. Tenou's face was set and sober as he quickly stripped Meghaduta of his harness and bridle as the wild herd circled distantly above them. Then he impulsively pressed his forehead to the noble brow of his childhood steed as Ashura looked on.  
  
"Megh. Go."  
  
Meghaduta did not hesitate. With an exuberant squeal he leaped straight into the air, whipping his wingtips carelessly against the grass as he sprang straight over the Emporer and up to the clouds. As he ascended the air currents almost as fast as a vimana, Ashura heard the cries of the flock and smiled. "You did the right thing! I hope you won't be sad."  
  
"No, Ashura. I will miss him terribly, but I won't be sad." Tenou was still gazing skyward. "I hope he can get along with that stallion. I don't want him to fly all alone. But... alone or not, he belongs up there, not in a stable. If only I had known before." He turned to Ashura. "My father intimated that he was the only one of his kind."  
  
"He knew you would turn him loose if it were otherwise."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Tenou? I have something kind of strange to ask you..."  
  
"What, dear one?" Tenou looked at his sibling with gentle eyes.  
  
"Am I really the last of the Ashuras? Am I really...? That's what I was always told-- that I was like Megh, the only one. What if I'm not?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"I don't know," Tenou said finally. "There is one other genuine Ashura who may still be around, but he would be very, very old now. He survived Shiva's destruction of the Tripuras, the three great flying cities of the Ashuras. His name is Maya."  
  
"The great engineer! Then he really did build your city!"  
  
"No. My city was built from ancient plans of his. But... I will tell you a secret so closely guarded that only my father and your father knew it."  
  
"What? What...??"  
  
The Emporer drew a huge breath. Then: "Far, far away, across the sea in another country, there are people who just might be related to you. It is recorded that Maya took some Ashura refugees to live there after the Three Cities fell. They are called the Mayans. But it is a rumor only."  
  
* * *  
  
Tenou had a magic speaking device that had been made for another Emporer thousands of years before. It still worked, and the already astonished Ashura was startled to hear the voice of Shaunakaa coming clearly back from it. Only minutes later, a vimana flown by Jatayu, one of Tenou's best pilots, appeared in the sky. The wild horses were long gone as Tenou hauled Meghaduta's heavy harness and bridle inside the craft. Strangely enough, Jatayu did not ask questions, but merely smiled, and Ashura had the feeling he had seen wild dragonhorses before somewhere in his aerial wanderings.  
  
Once they were in Zenmijou, Tenou and Ashura walked hand in hand in silence toward Ashura's room. "I love my brother," Ashura said quietly as they walked down the long, deserted halls. "He is generous, and kind to animals. Even to the lowest animals, like me."  
  
"If only the people could understand you, Ashura!" Tenou's voice was deeply sad.  
  
Ashura sighed. "It is because you are strong and they are weak. You are not afraid of Ashura. Either Ashura."  
  
"Ashura... You are like Megh, a wild thing that ought to be free. I am so sorry that I ever forced you to come here."  
  
"At least we could meet for this long, brother. I am happy about that. I wish we could live together always, without strife among the people..."  
  
"Ashura, if I had an heir I would give all this up and come and live with you, wherever you end up living. That is, if Yasha didn't mind!"  
  
"Yasha wouldn't mind. He likes you. Yasha..." Ashura suddenly stopped, releasing Tenou's hand. From the center of Ashura's upheld palm the tip of a transparent blade emerged, unknitting itself bloodlessly from Ashura's flesh. "Shurato calls Yamato," Ashura murmured. "I can hear Yamato answer... but he is not in our room! It is... this way. Follow me!"  
  
"Ashura!" Tenou cried, but his sibling was already gone, flitting ahead of him, a light among the shadows of the morning. Tenou girded himself and followed with a silent curse. 


	11. The Promise

Chapter 10: The Promise  
  
They ran past buildings and through vaulted courts, Ashura leading the way. Tenou found it difficult to keep up with the deerlike figure, but nevertheless when Ashura vaulted up onto a balcony, Tenou was right behind. They stopped before a locked door. It was made of heavy wood. Ashura opened clenched fingers and Shurato's blade slid completely free. Her eyes were blazing with fire. As Ashura reached for the door, Tenou said, "Wait! Ashura! Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to see?!"  
  
Ashura turned and Tenou took a step back. Madness glittered in the slitted golden eyes-- something far beyond ordinary jealousy or even rage. This is the Black Ashura, the Ashura I remember...  
  
"Ashura!" cried Tenou in desperation. "These are the rooms of Shukidevi!"  
  
Ashura spun back. One delicate, golden-bangled foot impacted with the warded door and it shuddered on its hinges. The next kick knocked it down and Ashura was through. Tenou followed grimly. Ashura strode through a second door, ripping down a curtain, into an inner chamber. Shurato hissed and spat, casting a golden light on the scene.  
  
Shukidevi the miko was climbing to her feet, a fur covering her naked skin as she rose from the couch upon which Yasha lay still stretched out and frozen with astonishment. "--Ashura!" he managed, then regained his composure and sat up. It looked to Tenou like the two had been napping after a mighty love-battle, the musky scent of which still hung heavy on the air.  
  
Ashura paused long enough to spare Yasha a single contemptuous look before turning to the miko. "You bitch! Yasha-- belongs-- to-- ME!" On the last word, the entire floor erupted in golden flames.  
  
Tenou had the presence of mind to toss Yasha his black silk robe. The warrior-god donned it as he was scrambling to his feet. "Ashura! No!" he barked, reaching for Yamato as Shukidevi screamed.  
  
No one else in the world can control my dark side... "Yasha!" cried Tenou impulsively, remembering those words on Mount Meru. Yasha, somehow intuiting Tenou's thought, did not hesitate but threw Yamato hilt-first to the Emporer. Tenou caught the heavy blade and was shocked by the feel of the sword. Yamato was alive. He felt the invisible tug of the weapon on Ashura, heard Shurato whisper in answer to its summons. He felt and understood, and directed all his will into the sword. "Ashura!"  
  
Ashura was watching Shukidevi's frantic attempt to escape the flames. A smirk of cruel satisfaction marred the perfect features until Yasha plunged into the fire that could not burn him to drag the miko out. For a long moment Yasha and Ashura faced each other, Yasha's big hands resting on Shuki's heaving shoulders. "Ashura! She bears my child!"  
  
Ashura froze in place, eyes dilated. Then: "NO! Only Ashura is Yasha's!"  
  
Ashura's shock was enough to let Shukidevi abandon Yasha's protection and run for the door. Ashura sprang after her, but Yasha caught Ashura by one arm. "Ashura! Yasha clan depends on this child!"  
  
Ashura whirled and struck Yasha hard in the face. "That is a lie! Yasha clan is not a bloodline!"  
  
Yasha did not move, but his grip on Ashura's arm might as well have been made of steel. Behind him, Tenou gasped, all his might bent on the focus of Yamato as Shurato's blade was raised, hovering. Yasha stared it down. For the longest of moments everything seemed perfectly still.  
  
Then Ashura abruptly tore free and ran.  
  
At first both Yasha and Tenou thought Ashura was pursuing Shukidevi, but it was not so. Ashura veered in a different direction and ran on, barely visible in the dark ahead of them, an insubstantial shadow.  
  
As they followed, Yasha panted, "Use Yamato!"  
  
"I-- am--!" Tenou's teeth were clenched.  
  
"Tenou!"  
  
Suddenly the invisible bindings gave; Yamato screamed as if in frustration, and Tenou fell to his knees. "Yasha--" he gasped. "I-- couldn't. It won't work. Please, take your sword!"  
  
Yasha caught up Yamato with one hand and Tenou with the other, barely missing a stride.  
  
* * *  
  
Ashura rushed through the Peacock Garden, leaving a whirlwind of scattered blossoms and broken branches behind. A pair of women on a moonlit tryst screamed and scrambled to get out of the way. Yasha and Tenou had fallen back, trying to force their way through the decorative thickets where Ashura had slipped like a spirit. Yasha halted for a moment and saw Ashura come to a skidding stop on the edge of the platform where lovers offered their flowers to the water far below. "ASHURA!" he roared.  
  
But Ashura was gone.  
  
Yasha and Tenou rushed down the marble steps. Yasha vaulted the balustrade while still high up, splashing heavily into the water. The pool was large and deep to contain the waterfall which spilled endlessly into it from the garden above. Tenou reached the bottom of the steps and ran along the raised stone rim at the water's edge, casting off his cloak in preparation to swim. Except for the moonlight and a few glowing plants, it was dark. Then Yasha surfaced and the light of Yamato shot through the blackness and reflected from every surface, turning the world into a many-faceted sapphire. "Can you find him?" Tenou cried.  
  
"No! Help me!"  
  
As Tenou dove into the pool, Yasha sank beneath the waterfall, holding the glowing blade of Yamato between his clenched teeth. It was almost impossible to see. The currents were hard and froth obscured everything. He followed the flow and Yamato's whisperings. Then, a flash of white. Ashura, still alive, he knew from Shurato's echo, pinned like a helpless butterfly against the intricately pierced stone grate which drained the pool. The current swept Yasha to his loved one and immediately he gathered Ashura in the crook of one arm, but their trailing hair caught in the grate. An awkward stroke of Yamato freed them from this trap, but it took all of Yasha's considerable strength to gain ground against the current. He slipped, sliding back; then Tenou's hand appeared from above. Yasha dropped Yamato and reflexively thrust Ashura upward, into the Emporer's grasp, even as he felt himself beginning to drown and realized what he had done.  
  
Tenou stood in agony at the pool's edge, Ashura coughing and dripping in his arms. Yasha did not reappear. Tenou set Ashura gently on the floor and dove into the pool a second time. If Yasha were to die...  
  
He found Yasha by the dimming light of Yamato, pinned to the grate just as Ashura had been. Leaving the sword, he grabbed Yasha's wrist and began to climb the stonework. The current buffetted them as though they were insects; he nearly screamed underwater as ligaments began to tear in his twisted arm. He couldn't hold on--  
  
Then the flow suddenly stopped. Tenou burst forth from the water, hefting Yasha's body. Ashura was standing above them, holding a golden shield of light that deflected the water. When Tenou hauled Yasha out of the pool, Ashura collapsed, beginning to sob. It was clear that the cold plunge had brought Tenou's real sibling back "Y-- Yasha...! He is dying because of me! His heart... I cannot heal this for him quickly enough! Yashaaa!"  
  
But Tenou knelt quickly and placed his mouth to Yasha's, forcing lifebreath into him. Yamato, in the blue depths of the pool, flared like a star, and Yasha began to gasp desperately. Tenou rolled him over and draped him over his good arm, pounding his back until he heaved up a great flood of water and took a huge breath. Then the Emporer delivered him into Ashura's lap, where he lay semiconscious, coughing painfully. "Ashura..." said Tenou kindly, rubbing his injured arm. "If you do not stop weeping, he will be drowned all over again!"  
  
Ashura looked up with huge, hurt eyes. "Yasha... Why, Tenou?"  
  
Tenou bowed his head. "Long, long ago, after the fall of my father's kingdom, when you were in the kekkai, young Shukidevi fell in love with Yasha-ou. She would watch him as he waited for you day after day, and wished that his constancy and love were for her. That was, and is still, her one wish in this world, and Yasha is her one love. But--" He held up a hand for Ashura to be silent-- "She knew that he is devoted to you alone, and that the love she dreamed of would never come to pass. As the years went by, she continued to watch him despite my orders against it... and I could not blame her. Who can bear to not look now and then at their only beloved, despite themselves?"  
  
Yasha stirred a little in Ashura's arms. Ashura bent to kiss his forehead and stroked the wet strands of hair from his eye as Tenou continued the story. "When Shuki saw you throw away Shurato in the jungle, she knew her chance had come. She went to Yasha-ou in the night. She was the one who broke the kekkai you had placed around your sword. Did you never wonder how Yasha got Shurato back?"  
  
"I... I thought his love for me had somehow done it."  
  
"No, Ashura. Shuki's passion did it. But she did it for a price-- that she could have your Yasha for one night. When she told this to me, I was very angry, for I knew the sanctity of your promise. But that was later. At the time, Yasha had no choice but to agree, or forfeit your life."  
  
Ashura's head was still bowed, ragged, dripping ends of hair hiding that fair face. "Then... You knew, all this time. You took me on your horse to give Yasha a chance to keep that other promise. You and Yasha arranged their meeting. Why?!"  
  
"Ashura, you of all people should know that Yasha will always keep his promises. Even if it is a promise he doesn't want to keep. I only wanted to make it easier for both of you."  
  
"I wonder if he ever doesn't want to keep his promise to me."  
  
"Oh, no!" Tenou's eyes were filled with sadness. "Please, don't think that. Your Yasha loves you so much he will break his sacred promise to you to save your life. But not otherwise. Never otherwise. Shuki herself says this is true."  
  
"That is why she hates me."  
  
Tenou lifted Yasha without another word, ignoring the pain of his arm, and carried him back up the one hundred and eight steps to the level of their dwelling. Morning was just appearing through the skyglass above, and the soft sounds of japa could be heard coming from the temple complex. Once in their quarters, Tenou lay Yasha on a blanket and helped Ashura undress and dry him. Both siblings doffed their clothes as well and quickly towled themselves off, Tenou taking two robes from the well-stocked closet, flinging one to Ashura and donning one himself. Ashura's robe turned out to be one of Yasha's, and the sleeves hung a full foot too long while the train trailed behind like a black peacock's.  
  
Yasha was finally coming around as they got him into the bed, but he said nothing, only lying still with eyes closed. Ashura bent, listening closely to Yasha's breathing. "He didn't get all the water out."  
  
"I know." Tenou stood for a moment in concerned thought. "He breathed a lot of it. He may be strong, but that water could make him feverish nonetheless. You will have to watch him closely for the next few days." Tenou walked around the bed to sit down next to Ashura. "Are you all right now? No more Black Ashura?"  
  
Ashura's face fell instantly into desolation. "It happened again. Didn't it. After all this time."  
  
It was Yasha who replied, softly. "Yes. But it was my fault, Ashura. I betrayed you. I broke our promise."  
  
"Yasha...! No..."  
  
Tenou made as if to leave them to themselves, but Ashura reached out to grab his wrist. "Please stay. I... I need you here now."  
  
The Emporer sat back down on the bed. "I am with you both."  
  
Yasha cleared his throat to speak again. "You should hear this as well, Tentei. Ashura... It was not only my promise to her which drove me to this. Have you ever thought fully about our own promise?"  
  
"Our promise is that we will stay together until the end of our lives," Ashura said.  
  
"But what if I were to fail, to die before you? What will happen then?"  
  
"Do not speak of such things! I forbid it!"  
  
"Ashura--" Tenou interjected gently. "You must speak of these things. After all, Yasha almost drowned just now."  
  
Ashura would not meet their eyes. "I... have thought of it many times. It is my greatest fear. I would surely die too."  
  
"But what about Black Ashura?" Yasha suddenly began to cough violently. Ashura reached for him, but Yasha shook himself a little and managed to half-sit, leaning against a cushion. "I also think about it, every day. It is my greatest burden."  
  
"Our promise is a burden?!" cried Ashura, stricken.  
  
"No! No! I did not say that! It's what may happen, Ashura! Not even your own brother's love was strong enough to stop Black Ashura this morning. What will happen if I were, indeed, to die?"  
  
"The end of everything." Ashura's words were almost inaudible. Then, quickly: "Kujaku should never have brought me back to life. Oh, Yasha--!" It was a cry of pure pain.  
  
"Wait, Ashura. You will love Yasha's child!"  
  
But Ashura was too lost for some minutes for the words to realize themselves. Yasha waited patiently, with Tenou looking on, until the time was right, then repeated himself. "You will love my child. You will love him because he is part of me. You would protect him if I were gone, and that would mean you would conquer Black Ashura as you did once before, for me."  
  
Ashura's eyes brightened for only a moment, then faded to dull bronze. "Yes. Yasha's child is precious..."  
  
"Yasha-ou," Tenou interjected softly. "Are you certain Shuki is pregnant?"  
  
Yasha nodded silently as Ashura turned to the Emporer. "I can feel it now too, even from here," Ashura said. "But Yasha's child is not Yasha!" Then Ashura froze in shock as all hope died in Yasha's eye.  
  
"Then my betrayal of your trust tonight was for nothing."  
  
"No! No, You were right, it will restore the Yama bloodline!" Ashura had given up any remaining anger. "Yasha...? I know the Yasha clan itself is not a bloodline, but your Yama line of kings is, and you are the last one left except for this child. I will not be jealous any more. I promise."  
  
"And I will never touch anyone else ever again. The bargain was struck to save your life. I should not have hoped that it could save you twice."  
  
Ashura sat with a straight back, hands clasped between knees. "Yasha... let us make another promise. One that will remove the burden of your thoughts, and mine."  
  
But Yasha took Ashura's hand between both his own. "Make me this new promise on the day we wed. Tentei?"  
  
Tenou smiled gently. "I'm glad. I would never have wanted Shuki to come between you."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Ashura was smiling now, too, a little shakily, wrapping both arms around Yasha's neck. "Thank you, Tenou." Then, suddenly, the smile vanished. "Tenou..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I broke our promise, too. With Kama! Why did you make him my teacher? I couldn't help myself!"  
  
"It is Kama who rules the destiny of gods and men, and I wanted you to feel his power firsthand, Ashura. I wanted you to see him and to know. He is strongest of all except for Mahadeva, the God. Stronger than Yasha, stronger than I."  
  
"But why did he make your father and mine fall in love like that? Why did he drive Taishakuten to slaughter all those clans?!"  
  
"Nobody knows. Ask him if you wish, but do not expect an answer. He has moved us all at one time or another." Tenou leaned forward to take Ashura's chin on his palm, lifting the delicate face so those golden eyes were looking at him steadily. "Ashura, I wanted you to see that the past was unavoidable. It wasn't your fault. You and I and all of us are only pawns in the hands of the God."  
  
Ashura looked down at Yasha tearfully. "Then the God is evil."  
  
"We cannot see all, Ashura," Yasha said softly. "Love, in itself, is never evil."  
  
"Oh, Yasha...! I am so ashamed! I let Kama love me... And you forgave! But with you-- and Shuki-- I was not thinking like that at all! Only of myself!"  
  
"Ashura, I have said this before. My greatest wish is for you to be happy. Your childhood was terrible, you wept more than you laughed, and I want you to be happy now instead. If you are happy, you are not betraying me. Only if you are unhappy, and do not tell me, are you betraying my trust, for then I cannot protect you."  
  
Ashura looked down, picking at the satin blankets.  
  
"You are inexperienced, love. You are still like a child, for though your body is thousands of years old, you have only been conscious in this world for a few years. And I do not love Shuki. She forced me into a promise that I could not avoid. Were she not a pretty woman, I do not know that I could have even fulfilled that promise!"  
  
There was an awkward pause; then Tenou arose, and bowed to them deeply. "Yasha-ou, I will have your sword retrieved for you."  
  
"Yes. Yamato is calling to me. Tentei--"  
  
"Yasha?"  
  
Yasha shook some ragged hair out of his eye, noting ruefully that both he and Ashura had been thoroughly trimmed by Yamato's blade. "Shukidevi said something to me. Is she Ashura's sister?"  
  
"...No."  
  
"But she is yours."  
  
"Yes. Shashi was not her mother. Hannyara was. When my arm-- was hurt-- my father took her, in case another heir was needed."  
  
"I see..."  
  
Tenou sighed. "I should explain this. When I lost Ashura, my mother, and Kendappa-ou all at the same time, I nearly lost my will to live. Since then, I have never found another like Kendappa to love, and often I feel that I never shall. I do not know if I will leave an heir to Heaven's throne... So I helped you with Shuki for this reason also. Her father was my father. Yasha, your child will be the grandchild of Taishakuten, and the heir to Heaven." 


	12. Love and War

Chapter 11: Love and War  
  
Yasha did catch a fever from his near-drowning, but the illness did not last for long. Yamato came back to him almost immediately in the hands of Shaunakaa, but he knew it was not Shaunakaa who had retrieved the sword. Fiercely he tried to put Shukidevi, and his future child, out of his thoughts.  
  
Tenou came to visit him when he was at his worst, feverish and coughing, and gave him a medicine his personal physician had prepared. Yasha drank the noxious liquid with complete trust and thanks. "Is the Ryuu clan still encamped?"  
  
"Seiryuu's there, and his male relatives. The women and others are at the sea palace. But Shuki says there's something different now. Some feeling that she can't pin down." Tenou shook his head slowly. "I fear for her. She's our only direct link to the front. She's well guarded now, but my only other miko is Shaunakaa. You do know that Shaunakaa is Shuki's little sister...? But she's nearly useless. She has the Sight but not the strength to use it for any length of time. So... I am left like you, half blind."  
  
The medicine was running through Yasha's veins, warming them like a fiery liquor, as Tenou turned to leave. "Get better quickly, Yasha-ou. I may have need of you if anything... unexpected occurs."  
  
"Yes, Tentei." Though Yasha's voice was neutral, Tenou's words warmed him almost as much as the medicine.  
  
* * *  
  
Three days later he was recovered fully, and he and Ashura were able to talk freely about Shuki with understanding and love. Laying all else aside for the moment, they began to prepare for their wedding ceremony.  
  
When the great day dawned, Yasha was smiling despite himself as Tenou's own servants bathed and dressed him, adorning him with decorations he was wholly unused to. His ears had never been pierced, for his native village had not observed this custom-- but they were pierced now in the traditional Vedic manner, and weighted down with heavy gold. A crown befitting his status as a king was placed upon his head, and a black dhoti with a gold border wrapped about him, leaving his broad bare chest to be ornamented with the sacred thread, as well as more gold. Even his eyepatch was replaced with one of black and gold silk. All these things were gifts from Tenou, who had invested more time, thought and money into this union than was wise. But despite the ornaments, Yamato stayed at Yasha's side. The noble sword deserved the honor of being present at this ceremony.  
  
Tenou had chosen certain of the devidasis-- temple girls-- to prepare Ashura for the marriage rite, picking the eldest pair from both temples in the Peacock Garden. Just as Yasha was bathed and dressed by many hands, so was Ashura. The devidasis, reassured by Tenou and supervised by Kama, were not afraid, and the mood was festive despite some sectarian bickering over the fine details.  
  
Intrigued, hotly pointing out embarrassing details as their subject looked on, and finally categorizing Ashura as more feminine than not, they dressed "her" in a cotton skirt and choli blouse, then overwrapped them with an elaborate sari with beaded fringes and fancy draping. The choli, though sewn by experts, did not fit quite right, and the girls debated stuffing the blouse until a laughing Ashura refused to play along.  
  
Jewelry was added-- all new ornaments, again supplied by Tenou. Ashura gasped in astonishment as a fabulous nose ring was produced as the last gift of all. The devidasis pierced Ashura's nose and installed the lovely ornament. It was in the shape of a golden flower with a blazing red garnet in the center-- the same one Ashura had seen and wanted in the royal storehouses before. Tenou had not forgotten.  
  
All was ready at last. The small procession entered Mahadeva's temple, where brahmanas, Tenou and Narada were there to greet them. Shuki was not present. Ashura's eyes were so bright and filled with joy that Yasha could not stop smiling as they exchanged beautiful garlands of flowers with one another. Touching holy water, they watched together as the priests kindled the sacred fire, and together they offered ghee into the hungry flames. Since Ashura's father was no more, Tenou took Ashura's hand and placed it in Yasha's. More offerings were given to the fire. Then it was time for the Great Pledge. As they stood in the flickering shadows, Mahadeva's likeness towering over them, Yasha held Ashura's trembling hands tightly and warmly, and for those moments it seemed to them that they stood all alone in that temple before the God. When Yasha finally spoke, his eyes never leaving Ashura's, it was not the ritual pledge he had memorized that morning.  
  
"Long ago I made a promise to you, which today I reaffirm with all my heart. I promised to always be there for you. I promised to protect you and to keep you from all harm. I promised not to die, so that you might one day be happy. That day has finally come; but this is still my promise to you."  
  
As Yasha finished speaking, he bowed his head to kiss Ashura's hand, then held it to his breast.  
  
Ashura stood caught by the heart, golden eyes welling over at Yasha's sudden eloquence and his unabashed public display of love. At last Ashura managed a whisper. "I-- I take your hand in mine, and I accept your promise. We will be together forever, as long as we live... and after we die. For if you die, I will die with you in that same hour. Always together, in life and in death. This is my promise, Yasha."  
  
The rest of the ceremony seemed anticlimactic. Ashura was barely aware as they walked four times around the sacred fire, keeping it to their right, offering the rice. Then, the last seven steps before Mahadeva, the same seven steps of the Dance which they had danced together in the forest so many times before.  
  
Afterward they approached Tenou and the brahmanas, touching their feet and receiving the blessings of each. Kama stepped forward last, not waiting for them to approach him, and Ashura blushed scarlet. The Love God's demeanor radiated pure kindness as he lay a hand on each of their bowed heads. "Ashura. You voiced your worst fear to me the day I first met you, for it was heavy on your mind. Your fear was that you would forget your love when you forget this life. But I am the God of Love, and I have the power to make your love immortal. This, then, is my gift to you.  
  
"No matter how many lives you live-- or how few-- no matter what you become, you will always remember your Yasha-- and he, in turn, will always remember you. 'Always together, in life and in death.' Please accept this gift from me."  
  
Ashura sank down to clasp Kama's legs, tears raining down silently on his feet. Yasha knelt and bowed to touch his forehead to the clean-swept floor for a long moment in silent, profound gratitude.  
  
When they finally stood up, supported by Kama's tender, shepherding touch, Tenou's eyes were glowing. "I am so glad of having this chance to see you happy, Ashura. Yasha, do your duty-- protect my sibling forever! Mahadeva shower happiness upon you both."  
  
* * *  
  
As the devidasis and monks cast flower petals over them, a dazed Yasha and Ashura were led by Tenou in procession from the temple; but as they entered the courtyard, Tenou halted suddenly. Shukidevi was running toward them, having to push her way through a small but rapidly growing crowd as she approached. As she reached the Emporer she did not bow, but caught his arm. "Tenou-sama! Shesha has betrayed us! Seiryuu has come to Lower Zenmijou!"  
  
As the shocked Emporer stared at her, Ashura suddenly snapped back to full awareness. The noise of the crowd was too loud. Brahmanas from the other temple were singing and dancing to peacefully protest their Emporer conducting this marriage rite, but some of their common followers were looking more angry than righteous. The crowd was pushing its way into the yard even as Mahadeva's people were trying to close the gates. But Tenou stepped forward, flinging back his cloak to reveal the sword that hung always at his side. Silence fell immediately. The power of Raijin Taishakuten-- and his son-- was not forgotten. "O learned ones!" he said, in a wonderful voice which was not a shout, yet which reached the furthest ears. "Today I have transgressed my dharma for the sake of justice. I have appealed to the God to have mercy on Ashura, who bears the heavy karma of Lord Ashura-ou, and to transfer the effects of that karma to my own person. I shall do penance!"  
  
The reply, an anonymous voice from the crowd, was almost immediate. "You cannot do penance for a sin ongoing! As long as you harbor this demon in your city--"  
  
Tenou cut them off, sternly but without anger. "Ashura is an avatara of the God Mahadeva. Not a demigod, demon, or human. I will not argue with you, my subjects! I leave judgement of my actions to our brahmanas. They will properly determine my penance. Now give way at once and let us pass!"  
  
There was a terrible moment of hesitation. Ashura shrank against Yasha's side, flinching against the palpable hatred in the air. Then the brahmanas began to direct the crowd back. Tenou strode forward without fear, Ashura and Yasha close behind, Shuki at his side, and the masses parted before them.  
  
Once out of the garden, Tenou sent Shuki back to her water mirror and led Yasha and Ashura at a run over walkways rarely used, darting through concealed doors and down narrow spiral staircases. Suddenly they came out on a catwalk to the side of the main vimana grihastha. Below them, dozens of vimanas sat on a huge airstrip. "Yasha-ou!" said Tenou. "Are you still the general you once were?"  
  
"No--!" cried Ashura, suddenly realizing what the Emporer intended, but Yasha ignored the pleas of his beloved. "Whatever skills in warfare I have left are at your command, Tentei."  
  
Tenou spoke quickly then. "Shesha was my Southern Guardian and should have quickly stopped Seiryuu's advance. Now that I cannot trust him, you are the best I have left. You are the God of Death and Righteousness, and also the old Guardian of the North, and I can trust you as I can trust no others these days. Take Jatayu, down there on the left. Go to the field of battle. Use Yamato if necessary. Kill Seiryuu and all who side with him!"  
  
Yasha bowed. "I will do as you command, Tentei."  
  
"Yasha--! Yashaa!!"  
  
"Ashura, you cannot come with me!" Yasha pulled Ashura into a quick strong embrace. "It is your job now to protect Tenou, as I will protect the citizens of Lower Zenmijou. I would expect Seiryuu to have a coordinated assault both here and on the ground. You must draw would-be assassins out into the open, if you can. Your brother, and this city, may be in greater danger than we know. Be strong! Protect the Emporer!"  
  
Ashura nodded wordlessly, touch lingering for a moment on Yasha's face before the mighty warrior god turned away, running down to meet Jatayu at his aircraft.  
  
Tenou and Ashura watched the vimana lift off. The Emporer's arms wrapped tight around his sibling. "He will be all right!" Tenou said firmly.  
  
"Yasha is blind in one eye because of me," Ashura said dully. "He is weaker in battle than he once was."  
  
"Ah! But generals give strategic orders. He may not have much fighting to do himself."  
  
"I know Yasha," said Ashura with a headshake. "Where there is fighting, he will be in the middle of it!"  
  
When the vimana was out of sight, Tenou and Ashura walked back up the steps hand in hand. It was drawing near evening; the shadows were longer as the sun sank behind clouds and its light, reflecting through the glass honeycombs surrounding the city, was refracted into a thousand dimming colors.  
  
"This would have to happen on the day you finally wed," Tenou said sadly. "I had so much nice food prepared for you, and other gifts, too. And a special copy of Kama's book as well, to encourage your Yasha who is so fearful to take your body as he truly desires. But... Yasha should be back soon. Seiryuu is not so much of a threat."  
  
Ashura stopped short, visibly agitated. "Please do not think me stupid, brother. This did not happen today by accident. It is Yasha and I that are the cause of all these troubles. If we do not leave here as soon as it is safe to do so, our presence will cause many more deaths."  
  
The sun was sinking steadily lower. Tenou and Ashura reached the darkest depths of the huge hangar as the lamps were lighting themselves. Tenou, watching carefully all around them, replied at last: "It was a risk I took. I wanted so badly to see you face to face and to know the truth, Ashura. As you have now seen, not everything can be learned from a water mirror. And when I finally saw you, I wanted so badly for you to be happy. And I wanted you and Yasha near me, foolishly thinking that if I kept you close, I would somehow be in more control of my kingdom. Whatever happens now will be a result of my own selfishness."  
  
* * *  
  
They were walking to the Inner Court halls when Ashura halted suddenly, holding up a hand. "Brother, something is not right."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Shurato is warning me..."  
  
Tenou reached at once for his sword, but the weapon was only half drawn when dozens of figures descended on them out of the dark. Tenou heard Ashura shout. Then a golden flame that did not burn enveloped them. Their attackers fell back involuntarily. Ashura stood tall before the Emporer, a brilliant light radiating from one outstretched palm. "I dare not use Shurato," the golden figure said in a clear, ringing voice. "But you may use your weapon from inside this shield, brother! Nothing can harm you now!"  
  
"Thank you, Ashura." Tenou drew his blade and touched the flat of it to his own brow for a moment before all Hell broke loose.  
  
A strong attack hit Ashura's shield of fire just as Tenou hurled his Ki outward with everything he had. It did not matter that the sword was not the great ceremonial Vajra, which could never be carried on a belt. The double shockwave would have brought even Yasha to his knees, but Ashura withstood it, standing firmly with both palms extended. As the first line of attackers fell beneath Tenou's initial stroke, the Emporer noted that Ashura's hair was streaming upward, a tangled veil of black-gold fire.  
  
Tenou shouted and slashed again, felling the opposition as though they were straws. Again and again he hurled his wrath from within the Ashuric flames. Then there was no one left to fight. As Ashura let the golden glow die, the extent of the carnage was revealed. Hundreds of bodies, soldiers of all clans, lay slaughtered by the Emporer's sword. Tenou walked among them, shaking his head slowly.  
  
Ashura was trembling violently. "Oh, Tenou, Tenou... It is truly my fault! Wherever I go... Wherever..."  
  
Swiftly Tenou came to Ashura, enfolding his sibling in his arms. "Stop it, Ashura! This is not your fault! They chose to rise up against me, their Emporer! It was I who killed them! Understand?"  
  
Ashura looked up and was astonished at the tears streaming down Tenou's cheeks. "B-- brother...?" Then Ashura gasped, sagging in Tenou's embrace as some other shock registered. "Yasha..."  
  
Thinking Ashura was overwhelmed by the bloodshed, Tenou took another look around. All his personal guards were absent or dead. Then, lone footsteps, stumbling toward them. It was Shaunakaa, breathless and pale. "Tenou! What are you doing here? Are you all right? I felt it in my sleep--"  
  
He drew her to him with one arm, kissing her hair. "I am all right. But I will need both you and Shuki at your water mirrors!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Ashura!" said Tenou. "What does Shurato tell you now?"  
  
"Yamato is crying! YASHA! He is hurt! Tenou, I must go, I must go to him!"  
  
Tenou thought furiously. "Who can I trust to take you?"  
  
"I must get to him soon..." Ashura was moaning softly, holding one side.  
  
"Sampati!" Tenou said. "Shaunakaa, find Sampati, Jatayu's brother, immediately! Then go with him, Ashura! I do not fear for your safety now! Go! I will be all right!"  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha was stretched out on the battlefield, cursing his limited range of vision, calling out to Ashura through Yamato with a desperation borne of imminent death. Shesha had betrayed him as well as the Emporer. Tenou's Southern Bushinshou had been in league with the Ryuu clan all along, helping Seiryuu and his clan cross the passes in disguise. It was that which Shuki had not seen-- or had somehow been blocked in seeing.  
  
And it had been Yasha's own faulty vision that had failed to see the foot soldier with the crossbow, and Shesha's knowledge of the range of that faulty vision which had enabled the fatal shot. Now a wicked black bolt was lodged in his entrails. He endured, a haze of red over what sight he had left, only calling to Ashura, calling his beloved to come join him in death.  
  
"YASHAA!" A shadow, a roar like thunder, and Ashura was there suddenly, a wall of golden flame encircling and protecting them. Yasha lay flat on the ground, gasping heavily. All around him the earth was suddenly cracking; tendrils of a strange life rising up like a forest of living bone. Ashura knelt quickly, wrestling him to his knees so that he struggled not to cry out, wrapping both arms around him from behind. "I can save you! I will save you!"  
  
The vinelike tentacles were encircling both of them. Yasha gasped and tore the dart from his gut, holding it like a dagger and intending to use it as such. "Ashura. This wound is mortal! We must keep our promise now!"  
  
"No! There's time! Trust me, Yasha! Trust me now!"  
  
The tendrils were wrapping around Yasha's neck, his face. He felt them pierce his skin, immobilizing him, felt his blood mixing with another, alien blood that both burned like fire and chilled him to the bone. A terror he had never known suddenly overwhelmed him. "Ashura--!"  
  
Ashura, too, was encased in the quickly forming chrysalis. "Do not be afraid, Yasha." The low voice by his ear was calmer now, almost serene. "Let my blood be your blood! Let my blood save you!"  
  
A tentacle briefly explored Yasha's empty eye socket. The wound in his gut throbbed with pain as it was entered next. Ashura's arms were tight around him. They felt like tree roots, as though they were somehow growing to him. Then he realized that they actually were, that he and Ashura were somehow being physically melded together. He thought he heard, "Don't be afraid!" one more time before darkness took him and he surrendered himself to the echoes of that alien heartbeat.  
  
* * *  
  
A rush of Yasha's blood warmed and pleasured Ashura's vitals as their bodies merged together in an eerie embrace intimate beyond even Kama's wildest fantasies, an intricate tangle of conjoined flesh growing ever closer. Now they were truly one. Yasha was weak. Ashura strengthened him. Yasha needed to rest. His body-- Ashura's body-- sank slowly into deep relaxation. "Sleep now, Yasha," Ashura whispered. "Heal yourself. I will keep you safe."  
  
The battle outside was no longer of any significance. The kekkai Ashura had called up could not be broken. Ashura smiled languidly as Kartikkeya rushed by, leading a furious charge. It was not Ashura's concern now. Not even Tenou was Ashura's concern. Only Yasha... Ashura's beautiful head rested silently against Yasha's; the golden eyes drifted nearly closed as the kekkai continued to settle in around their impossible form, and Ashura settled in for the long wait. 


	13. Fallen From Heaven

Chapter 12: Fallen From Heaven  
  
"Yasha! Yasha! Wake up!"  
  
Yasha started violently, his body convulsing. His eye flew open wildly. He lay flat on his back in a sunlit meadow. Above him, Zenmijou floated majestically bright in a clear sky.  
  
Ashura's beautiful face came into his range of vision. He reached without thinking, pulling the other to him by the hair so their lips met in rough kisses. For several minutes they lay devouring one another, but at last he let go of Ashura's hair and sat up. "What...?"  
  
"I said to trust me!" Ashura sat back on slim haunches.  
  
Yasha looked around. There was no sign of this ever having been a battlefield. The tall grass waved in the breeze and flowers grew in profusion. Yasha glanced down. He was naked. The wound in his gut had wholly disappeared.  
  
A cloak was suddenly dropped around his shoulders and Tenou leaned over him. "I've had a watch kept over you," he said, smiling. "Ashura woke first and told them to bring me here. Welcome back, Yasha-ou! It's been ten years!"  
  
"Ten years?" Yasha blinked. Though ten years were nothing compared to the two thousand he had spent patiently waiting for Ashura's return to life, it seemed strange to have had a short sleep last for so long.  
  
Ashura smiled up at Tenou, who was already turning back from brother and friend to Emporer. "I will escort you to shelter and provide you with food. We have matters to discuss as soon as possible."  
  
* * *  
  
That afternoon Yasha, shadowed by something that he could not name, was seated with Ashura and Tenou on the cushions of a dining-couch in a rich home which Tenou had procured for them in Lower Zenmijou. The house was in a fair, secluded place, overhung with wisteria and surrounded by high walls enclosing a pleasant garden. Guards were unobtrusively posted. In the eating area, Tenou had poured glasses of wine in despite of the brahmanic prohibition, and Ashura was trying a sample with delight. Tenou did not wear the same expression. "You cannot stay here," he said without preamble.  
  
Ashura set down the glass, but did not reply. Neither did Yasha. The conclusion was foregone.  
  
Tenou looked away from them and down at the table. "I bear sole responsibility of the lives lost in the rebellion," he said. "Ashura, you do understand that this was not your doing?"  
  
"Yes. I understand." Ashura's voice was very soft. "I was living in the jungle happily before I was called here."  
  
"Very good." Tenou reached to touch the fair face. "Don't let yourself slip back into your old way of thinking. My people rebelled against my decision. I chastised them.  
  
"You cannot stay here, but where can you go? Yasha?"  
  
Yasha sighed. "We cannot go back north to Alaka. As much as I would like to see my homeland again, Ashura does not belong there."  
  
"That is not true! I could--"  
  
"Hush, Ashura," said Yasha, continuing over the other's protests and his own inner pain which was becoming an inexplicable torment. He forced the strange sensations below the level of his consciousness. "Let us go back into the jungle by the Great River and live peacefully."  
  
"Your life would be anything but peaceful." Tenou shook his head slowly. "There are those who would suspect you had returned, and hunt you out for worship-- or war. You know it in your heart. And you cannot go southward, near the Ryuu clan..."  
  
"Seiryuu!" Ashura exclaimed, standing up suddenly. "What happened to Seiryuu?"  
  
"I executed him," Tenou said.  
  
"Oh-- Oh no..." Ashura sank back onto the cushions.  
  
"Peace, Ashura. The clan survived, though many were killed." Ashura winced under the gentle sting of the Emporer's words. "Seiryuu led a massive rebellion against me. What do you think should have happened?"  
  
"You could have pardoned him!"  
  
"Not for that kind of offense." Tenou took a small sip of wine. "Tenkai would be splintered into factions were my rule to be overthrown, and the world would be at war. Therefore I must maintain my position even if it means ordering executions. Do you forget what happened at your own 'sacrifice?'"  
  
A sudden sharp shriek of child's laughter startled them and all three jumped as one before looking out through the window. Yasha stood up as Tenou said, "Ah, Shuki. I was wondering how long she would take..."  
  
Shukidevi had entered the courtyard outside and was playing with a golden ball, her garments trailing in the dust as she tossed it to a boy. The child had pale hair, but otherwise possessed all the marks of the Yama bloodline-- tall for his age, strong, the same brow as Yasha's, the same eyes that Ashura had once described as like the night sky. His voice reminded Yasha of his young brother's voice, an eerie echo, and he knew this was his child. Suddenly something shattered in him, and all the anguish and even the broken promise seemed worth it in that instant.  
  
Shuki glanced up directly at him with a brilliant smile. As her son ran to her side, she turned him around and pointed to Yasha in the window. The boy froze like a startled deer. Yasha smiled more broadly than he was used to, but he could not tell what his son was feeling. There was almost a look of horror on his face. Perhaps it was Yasha's missing eye and the terrible scar that went with it.  
  
Tenou's voice was soft by Yasha's ear, the Emporer turning once again into a friend. "Behold Yama, your son. Heir to Heaven, Prince of the Yasha clan."  
  
"Yama..." whispered Yasha. "The next Yasha-ou! ...Ashura, Ashura, do you see? Do you? It's the next Yasha-ou! Kujaku was wrong!"  
  
Ashura did not reply. Yasha glanced back. His beloved had taken refuge in Tenou's arms as if waiting for some terrible but inevitable announcement.  
  
"Ashura," said Yasha very gently, reaching out just as if talking to the little child in the courtyard. "May I go see Yama?"  
  
After a very long moment, Ashura nodded stiffly. The golden eyes were huge, hurt, loving. Yasha leaned forward, ignoring Tenou's presence to tenderly kiss Ashura's forehead, then the wine-stained lips. "Thank you," he whispered, and turned away, walking out into the courtyard.  
  
Ashura also turned away, trembling, resting on Tenou's broad breast. "Don't worry," Tenou said softly, stroking the long black hair. "You will always come first with your Yasha."  
  
"Brother...? I feel strange..."  
  
"How so, dear one?"  
  
"I don't know... Lighter, somehow."  
  
Tenou smiled. "Perhaps it was the wine."  
  
* * *  
  
"Shukidevi," Yasha said formally.  
  
She greeted him with folded palms as Yama clung to her sari. Yasha dropped to one knee. "What's this?" he said. "A Yama never acts afraid, even if he is really terrified. This cannot be a Yama!"  
  
That got the desired reaction. "I am too a Yama!" the boy said, releasing his mother's sari and taking a step away from her. "I'm only the second Yama left, and I'm going to be Emporer. Are you really my father?"  
  
"Yes, I am," said Yasha, with an intense feeling of satisfaction. A burden he did not know he had been still bearing was lifted from his shoulders-- the burden of a great bloodline extinguished by his own actions long ago.  
  
"Is that Yamato? Show me the Heavenly Wolf!"  
  
Yasha chuckled. "If I brought down Yamato's Heavenly Wolf here in this garden, it would destroy it! Now look only. Don't touch, for the light itself will cut you." Slowly he unsheathed the gleaming blade.  
  
"Show me something it can do!"  
  
Yasha glanced around. There was a grove of trees at one end of the garden. They were not too large. One would suit his purposes. He levelled the sword at it with all the panache he could still muster, and whispered the softest command. A pale flash of his Ki shot through the blade and in the next moment the tree came crashing down. Startled parrots and monkeys erupted from its falling crown.  
  
Yama's eyes gleamed as the tree came to rest only a few feet from them. "Let me try!"  
  
Yasha smiled again and sheathed the sword firmly. "Ask me again in five years' time," he said-- and was brought up short by his own words.  
  
Shuki watched him sadly. "You will no longer be here then," she said.  
  
"I know."  
  
"What?!" cried Yama.  
  
Yasha bent and hefted Yama up onto one shoulder, as he had carried child- Ashura thousands of years before. The weight felt good, familiar. "I have to leave this place," he said quietly.  
  
"No--! No, I just met you!" Then: "It's the Ashura, isn't it?"  
  
Yasha looked reproachfully at Shuki, who colored a little, before replying. "It is my duty to leave."  
  
"Yasha," Shuki said urgently as she recovered herself. "There is something I must tell you."  
  
Yama had brushed away the forelock Yasha tried to keep over his scar, and was examining the site of the missing eye with a child's fascination for the grotesque. Yasha allowed it.  
  
"You've changed," Shuki said. "You carry the Ashuric blood now. You feel it within you."  
  
Yasha caught his breath. Was that the reason...?  
  
"Yes, you feel it. You should know this means you also carry the seed. Should you have another child, it would be an Ashura, and the clan would continue despite itself. I saw this in my mirror. Even Ashura does not know it!"  
  
Yasha stared at her, dumbstruck. She nodded once, emphatically.  
  
Slowly Yasha set Yama back down on the ground. "You hate my Ashura," he said. "Why should you wish to bear another?"  
  
"Because you love them."  
  
Yama was tugging on Yasha's robe. "I don't want an Ashura for a brother!"  
  
"Yama," said Yasha gently, "None of us can choose our brothers. Shuki, you would care for this Ashura?"  
  
"I am not what they say Shashi was. I will care for this Ashura, for your sake..." Her eyes had softened. "And I would not abandon a child."  
  
"I will bring this news to my Ashura, then."  
  
"And I will be staying here in Lower Zenmijou for three nights. At the Golden Temple, with the devisasis there."  
  
Yasha returned to the house as Shuki left with their son, and there he took Ashura from Tenou's arms into his own, lifting the slim body up against his steady shoulder where Yama had rested only moments before. "Tenou," he said to the Emporer, "Did you know what Shuki would say to me out there?"  
  
Tenou looked a little surprised. "No!" he said. "That's none of my business!"  
  
"Hm."  
  
* * *  
  
That evening, in the privacy of the garden, Yasha told the news to Ashura, holding his love's hand tightly. "... I carry not only your blood," he finished, looking down at the fine fingers entwined in his own. "I carry the Ashuric seed now. Though you have none yourself, you gave me your bloodline when we were in the kekkai." Then he glanced up, allowing the doubt and uncertainty he felt to touch his usually stoic visage. "Ashura. Is this a gift for us to use? Or is it... an accident of Fate? Even your brother does not know about this... And, Ashura... I would not tell him if I were you. I know it will be hard, as he is staying with us... but you should not tell Tenou."  
  
Ashura was stunned. "There can be Ashuras again?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Do you think she spoke the truth... Or does she only want more of you?" Golden eyes narrowed, glittering dangerously.  
  
Yasha sighed heavily. "She is quite honest. I believe she is telling the truth, not only from her words, but from my own... feelings... Ashura, since you healed me I have been different. I cannot explain how."  
  
Silence. Ashura stroked Yasha's arm thoughtfully. "So have I. I feel strange, Yasha. As though something were missing. But it's a good feeling. I like it. Tenou says it is the wine, but I know it's not."  
  
"Ashura. We must decide about the child. Mahadeva deliberately made you sexless. But was it to control your procreation or your passion? Or did it really have anything to do with you at all? Your father--"  
  
"--I know! Oh, Yasha! It is so difficult, this life! It is so difficult to know what to do!"  
  
Yasha leaned to kiss the tender cheek. "Remember-- should you wish to use me to resurrect your clan, any willing woman can be your vessel. It does not have to be Shukidevi."  
  
"But what other woman would be willing to bear an Ashura...?"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha was walking alone that night in the garden, where his son had been playing, when Ashura came to him.  
  
"Yasha, I have decided. You must go to her."  
  
Yasha noted Ashura's tear-reddened eyes, and that there were no bangles on the slender wrists, no jewelry, just a plain white silk tunic. Ashura continued after a moment. "It is what my father would have wanted. This is for the survival of a clan. It is not that you love her..."  
  
The last was a question. Yasha spoke suddenly, breaking his stillness. "Ashura, you must understand that only you mean love to me. Only you. I will go only if you command me to do so."  
  
"Then I command you." Ashura's voice became stronger, sterner. "Go to her, Yasha!"  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha arrived at the Golden Temple uninvited, but certainly not unexpected, ushered in by a temple prostitute. Shuki schooled herself carefully calm, though inwardly she was already weeping. This second time would be the last. This was the last time she would ever hold Yasha-ou, her only love; the last time she would drink in his thick scent, feel his hair cascading over her, feel his body covering hers.  
  
He was both rough and thorough, but she did not complain. His breath sobbed with a passion she had not heard from him before, and it thrilled her even as it frightened her. This was not the same Yasha she had watched for all those years. He kissed and licked her hungrily, like a beast, and, beastlike, he entered her with something bordering on violence so that she bit her lip until it bled. Again and again he took her, until both were exhausted.  
  
She lay quiet beneath him and gazed steadily into his one dark eye, and shuddered at the things she saw there. There were shadows best unseen, crawling at the bottom of a fathomless pond. But there was something else there, too. He had seen the hopelessness in her, listened to her silence. Perhaps he had realized a little of her endless pain.  
  
He rested with her part of the night, but did not linger until dawn. When he left, it was with unexpected words. "Shuki," he said. "I had cursed you, but now I thank you. Yama means more to me than you can know. So will your next child. And you are a brave woman, for you have courted Death."  
  
* * *  
  
Next day was the beginning of the Autumn Festival. If there was a general restlessness to the air of Lower Zenmijou at the rumours of Ashura alive in their midst, Tenou's presence there stabilized things. The people had learned to respect him in an entirely new way. Shuki brought Yama anonymously to compete with the children in their games, and he outshone every other child there like the sun outshone the moon. Yasha nodded his approval, and Yama beamed with pride.  
  
There seemed no end to the feasting and music, which lasted well into the evening, but at last Yasha and Ashura were able to retire to their room, and Tenou to his. These quarters were not half as grand as the palatial residence Ashura and Yasha had enjoyed as guests of the Emporer in Upper Zenmijou, but somehow that made it all the more comfortable. The two gladly sought the warm softness of their bed, extinguishing every lamp but one.  
  
"Ashura. Did you see my child in the games today? Did you see Yasha's child?!"  
  
Ashura rolled over to face him in the darkness. Yasha felt Ashura's warm breath lightly touch his brow. "Yes. He looks just like you, and he has those same beautiful eyes. But the hair... The hair is Taishakuten's. Tenou seems to treasure him very much."  
  
"Ashura. Did Kama take you first, because I would not?"  
  
"Yasha?" Ashura sat up suddenly, considering Yasha's odd question. "You have never asked me such a thing before! Are you all right? Kama loved me indeed, but he never trespassed my body! That secret is for you alone!"  
  
Yasha nuzzled those silken strands of hair. Whatever strange emotions were disturbing him lurked at the very periphery of his mental vision, but he could not force them down this time. As he pulled away to gaze into those golden eyes, it seemed to him that duplicity lingered in their depths.  
  
"I'm sorry...! Yasha...? What is wrong? Please tell me!"  
  
"Hush, love." Yasha rolled over and rose from the bed. "I am restless and cannot sleep, thinking about my son and thinking about Tenou... And so many other things..."  
  
* * *  
  
Yasha paced back and forth, from room to room, well into the hot and humid night. It was something Ashura had never known him to do before. For a long time Ashura lay alone in the bed, listening to his quiet footsteps and slowly pondering the cause. Then they stopped; but Yasha had not returned.  
  
At last Ashura arose, pausing in the darkness to put on a thin silk robe. "Yasha?"  
  
No answer.  
  
Ashura's skin was crawling. Golden eyes strained to see past the shadows enveloping everything. The room was empty. Both Ashura's hands clenched as Shurato stirred restlessly within. Her voice was dark, heavy with a vague warning Ashura could not place, and somehow sounding hollow. Ashura reached automatically to catch her hilt as she materialized out of thin air, then stepped through the door into the outer rooms, turned-- and was abruptly seized.  
  
"Yasha!" Ashura struggled to get free of Yasha's viselike grip. His big hands were clamped painfully around Ashura's thin waist, fingertips almost meeting. Half-turning, Ashura saw Yasha's good eye blazing red as a wolf's. That was what he looked like: a great black demon-wolf, a creature beyond love. Ashura froze. "Yasha! Yasha...?"  
  
Without a word Yasha grasped Ashura's robe at the collar with one hand, still crushing Ashura's waist with the other, and ripped it violently off. The silk fluttered to the floor like a wounded butterfly, leaving only white skin in its wake. Shurato clattered to the floor.  
  
"Ashura!" said Yasha, in a voice not his own. "Did you lie to me?"  
  
"Yasha--! Yasha, please, I did not lie, I did not! Yasha-- you're hurting me! YASHA--!!" Ashura writhed in Yasha's iron grip, then pulled free in a rush of golden flame and plunged outside, darting through the night garden. Fetching up against a large stone, Ashura called Shurato to hand again as Yasha drew near once more. But it was not Yasha at all. It was his new blood, his Ashuric blood, surging out of control.  
  
Better to endure any other pain that that of Yasha's death. Ashura dropped Shurato a second time and stood bravely waiting for what might come, back to the silent stone. 


	14. The Water of Life

Chapter 13: The Water of Life  
  
Ashura had never heard Yamato scream in quite the way he was screaming now. Dragged carelessly in Yasha's left hand, he scraped the ground, leaving a trail of blue flames in his wake. Ashura stared in paralyzed fascination at the surreal light. Ashuric flames. Yasha had inherited more than a bloodline. He was so close now that Ashura could smell his sweat. Possessed, he was. Suddenly his hands rested heavily on Ashura's shoulders, and Ashura looked into that single fathomless eye and saw what Shuki had seen. "Yasha..."  
  
Suddenly a lithe figure flashed out of the darkness, colliding with Yasha so hard that the tall warrior was knocked from his feet. As he rose, Tenou backhanded him with all his might, setting him reeling. "YOU!" the Emporer spat. "How dare you--!"  
  
Yasha got up. His eye was blood-crimson and he growled, lungeing for Tenou. Ashura screamed. Tenou ducked and struck Yasha a mighty blow with the flat of his sword and Yasha was down in the dust. Tenou put one foot on the small of his back. "Why?!" he demanded.  
  
"Tenou! Tenou, wait!" Ashura was kneeling at Yasha's other side, Shurato in hand. "This isn't Yasha's fault! It's mine!"  
  
"Get out of the way," Tenou said tightly. "If he makes one more move he's going to get hurt."  
  
"Leave him alone!" Ashura spat back, brow turning dark. Shurato hissed. But then Yasha uttered a small sound and both twins turned to him in astonishment. Yasha was weeping.  
  
Stunned, Tenou stepped back and stood motionless as Ashura lay down Shurato and tried to wipe away Yasha's tears with unsteady hands. "Yasha--! Yasha, be strong, do not weep! Y-- Yasha?"  
  
"Oh, Gods, Ashura... What have I done...? What is happening to me...?"  
  
"You did nothing! Nothing, Yasha, you did not hurt me! I know what it was. No, listen, I know!" Ashura glanced up at Tenou's white face and tried to explain to the both of them. "When we were in the kekkai, we shared body and blood. You are part of me now. That means Black Ashura is part of you."  
  
Yasha was picking himself up slowly. "Why did you not defend yourself?"  
  
Ashura was crying now too. "I would never hurt my Yasha...!"  
  
They knelt together, holding onto one another as though a windstorm were trying to sweep them away.  
  
After awhile Yasha's tears ceased. His eye was dull and lifeless, in a way more frightening than its previous madness. "Ashura... If there were one other in this world whom you loved like me... One other who could save you... I would kill myself now."  
  
"No! Put away that thought and do not think it again! There is no other!"  
  
Tenou hunkered down beside them and Ashura glanced to him. "Now that this has happened to Yasha-ou... What do we do...?" the Emporer asked, rather helplessly.  
  
Ashura held Yasha close and stroked the nape of his neck thoughtfully. "What I did to save him cannot be undone. Our bodies, our flesh, were shared, and he was changed. I feel different too. Like something has been taken from me."  
  
"It is your dark side," Yasha whispered hoarsely. "It dwells in me now. I am fighting it as I speak. Ashura...! How have you gone for so long living with this...?"  
  
Ashura kissed Yasha's hair lovingly. "I will show you."  
  
Yasha said nothing more but leaned against the other wearily, feeling Tenou's thoughtful eyes upon him. "Do you think he can control it, Ashura?"  
  
"Yes. Please, brother, pick up our swords and hold the blades together."  
  
Tenou picked up Yamato first, then, more gingerly, Shurato, wincing as the hilt writhed a little in his grasp. As the two blades met they synchronized in pitch and Yasha gave a slow sigh of relief as the demons fled to the dark depths of his consciousness. Shurato's light was no longer golden, but pure and clear. Her brilliance wiped everything clean.  
  
"For as long as our swords are together, Yasha will be able to rest," Ashura said. "I... did not know that it would be this way... I am so sorry, Yasha!"  
  
"You saved my life," Yasha said, letting Ashura steady him as he climbed slowly to his feet. "Do not regret that! But will Shurato stay with Yamato long enough for me to gain the strength to hold back this darkness?"  
  
"Of course she will. They are lovers, after all."  
  
Ashura led Yasha back slowly into the house, bending with unselfconscious grace to pick up the torn silk robe. "Lay the swords in the cloth, brother. Yes... We will wrap them together and place them thus, by our bed... It's all right, Yasha. Now you can sleep. When morning comes, Shurato will return to me, but you will be strong again; for Black Ashura's power is worst in the night."  
  
"...Yes." Yasha was reclining on the cushions, Ashura wrapped around him. "Shurato will be my light. Ashura... You truly feel no more of the dark in you?"  
  
"I am free." Ashura's words were nearly a whisper, triumphant, unbelieving. "You have freed me, Yasha!"  
  
Tenou covered them with a blanket and retreated to the doorway. "I will guard you for the rest of the night, beloveds." But Yasha was already asleep.  
  
"Thank you, Tenou," Ashura whispered.  
  
* * *  
  
When morning came, Yasha woke suddenly, knowing that Shurato had vanished back into the heart of her master. He stretched and sighed. His sleep had been heavy, deep and dreamless; he felt rested for the first time since his ten-year hibernation, able to withstand the demons of the day. He rolled over and found himself looking into golden eyes.  
  
"Better, Yasha?"  
  
"Much better, love. How did you know what to do...?"  
  
Ashura smiled a slow smile. "Remember the snowstorm in Alaka?"  
  
Tenou was waiting for them, having prepared a breakfast of fruits and breads. "I realized in the night where you could both live and be happy," he said. "Where we could still see each other from time to time! It's perfect!"  
  
"Then let us go there without delay," said Yasha, sitting tall. His eye sparkled now. Ashura glanced from one to the other, mystified. It was obvious Yasha had guessed their destination.  
  
* * *  
  
The vimana touched down in a high mountain meadow, scattering a flock of small birds. Jatayu left his station to help unload a large quantity of supplies: salt, jaggery and ghee, sack upon sack of rice and rice flour, clothing, blankets, and other provisions. When he was finished, he saluted Yasha and Ashura with a friendly smile and vanished back into the craft, leaving them alone with his Emporer.  
  
Tenou sighed and scanned the sky. "It won't rain anytime soon," he said. "The monsoons will come late this year, Shuki told me. You should have weeks yet to cut some trees and build a house. But don't build too near the stream--" he pointed. "In high summer it will become a torrent as the sun melts the glaciers above, and the monsoons will do the same."  
  
"Tenou..." Ashura said in wonder, leading them slowly down to the water's edge. "All the sand is gold! Is this the Water of Life?"  
  
"I don't know. This mountain is a world all its own... Oh, I will miss you so, Ashura!"  
  
Ashura turned quickly. "It's not forever! You said so."  
  
"Yes I did. Yasha-ou?"  
  
"Tentei." Yasha inclined his head.  
  
"When your Yama reaches the Age of Succession, I intend to take the path of renunciation. There is no better place for that than here on Meru."  
  
"You are welcome, of course, to dwell with us whenever you wish."  
  
"Tenou--" Ashura started forward, then stopped. "Yasha? Please-- I need to talk to my brother alone."  
  
Yasha bowed and stepped back. "Farewell for now, my Emporer-- and thank you."  
  
From a distance he stood and watched as Ashura, taking both Tenou's hands in his, spoke earnestly to the Emporer. Tenou embraced his twin long and hard, kissing Ashura's forehead, replying just as earnestly. At last he sent Ashura back to Yasha-ou, and with a final wave he stepped into the vimana and was gone.  
  
Ashura ran into Yasha's arms, sobbing a little. Yasha did not say anything, but merely held, until Ashura spoke in reply to his silence. "Yasha... I told him about the Ashura child. I couldn't help myself, I didn't want him to leave my child unprotected... Did I do wrong?"  
  
"I don't think so," Yasha replied thoughtfully. "Shuki probably has already told him, and if not, this gives him time to work out a plan. He may be Emporer, but he will not harm Shuki or her children. That I can promise you. Whether he can prevent others from harming them is something else... But I believe he can."  
  
"Yasha... I don't want Shuki to come here, ever. But I didn't tell him that, I couldn't, even though that's what I'm afraid will happen."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You do like her, don't you."  
  
"I respect her, Ashura. She is a very brave woman. She knows that by bearing an Ashura, she may be forced into exile-- and forced to leave her Yama behind as well."  
  
"Yama! Oh, Yasha, I didn't think--"  
  
"Hush. Tenou will care for him if it comes to that. Shuki knows that too. It's out of our hands now, love. Shhh... Don't weep over the future. Ours cannot be brighter."  
  
"But Yasha, if Shuki is exiled it will leave Tenou and Yama with only Shaunakaa as miko!"  
  
"Not necessarily. Ashura, you must trust Tenou. He will know what to do. Now come. Help me carry these things to a place where the night dew will not ruin them."  
  
* * *  
  
Mount Meru's heights were rich and verdant at even ten thousand feet above the plains of Tenkai. Every tree and fruit to be found in the lower jungles grew there, as well as many kinds that were native only to the sacred mountain. A sweet spinach leaf that fulfilled all hunger flourished under their shade, along with a thousand other vegetables and herbs. Wild rice grew in every marshy spot, and though there was a profusion of wildlife Yasha sensed rightly that on Meru, meat was not to be touched. Garnets were to be found strewn about in every stream and stone, but only the stream below the little house ran with sands of gold, and though Ashura and Yasha felt no different when they drank from it, it seemed to them that indeed it was the Water of Life.  
  
Their little house was built, and thunderclouds far away on the horizon spoke of the monsoons coming; but for now the sun still shone on the mountain, and Yasha and Ashura lay in silence by the stream on a mossy ledge. The moss was thick and soft and slightly damp.  
  
At last Ashura ventured: "I think Kama's book is good. Don't you?"  
  
Yasha snorted softly, but in the next instant he found himself caught in the spell of Ashura's glance-- two pools more golden than the golden sands beside them that glittered in the sun. Ashura's voice had dropped to a husky whisper. "Yasha. I need you more than ever now. I need your darkness... Please. It is time."  
  
Yasha said nothing, only moving after a moment to pull Ashura into a long, deep kiss, parting those sweet lips to gently tongue the sensitive roof of his lover's mouth. Ashura moaned and clung to him, Yasha's gentle, big hands carefully unknotting the other's belt and pulling the outer shirt of gauzy cotton off over Ashura's head. Ashura laughed softly as a sudden breeze blew the cloth back into Yasha's face, and he smiled, removing the loose under-tunic next so that his beloved's beautiful body was revealed to the sky. Ashura touched him with the same wonder that he remembered from their first loving, that summer in Alaka beneath the cherry tree. "Soon, Yasha, soon you really will be mine..."  
  
"I am always yours," Yasha murmured, and lifted Ashura gently up, his love clinging to him like a vine around a tree, sliding slowly down until Yasha was touching the most mysterious of all Ashura's secrets... Their gazes were almost level with one another and Ashura's eyes were as bright as the gold in Meru's streams. There was no need for much love-play; Ashura's skin was already flushed and beaded with excited sweat. Yasha entered as smoothly and easily as a polished sword home into its sheath. The hidden rose of his dreams was a rose indeed, and Ashura uttered a triumphant cry of possession. "Yasha... It is good!"  
  
It was better than good, they soon discovered. Hidden inside the lissom form that Yasha had never dared to touch was every pleasure ever known by god or man. Perhaps it was another gift of Kama; perhaps the magic of Meru intensified it; perhaps it had been there all along. It did not matter. Beyond bliss, Yasha revelled in Ashura's sweet screams of pleasure as they loved and loved again, rising together to heights nothing else could ever match.  
  
* * *  
  
Autumn waned; the monsoons passed; a new summer came, and in Upper Zenmijou Shukidevi called her brother to her side. "Tenou-sama," she said. "See what I have borne!"  
  
Tenou looked, and scratched his head in astonished perplexity at the perfect Ashura twins she held in her arms.  
  
"Two of them!" Yama said in disgust by the side of the bed.  
  
"Do not worry, Yama!" said Tenou. "They will not be here for long-- that is, if you can keep quiet about their birth."  
  
Shuki paled; even Yama's eyes widened.  
  
"Sister," said Tenou. "Who was midwife here?"  
  
"N- no one," she stuttered, clutching her babies protectively. "I'm not stupid. I bore them by myself."  
  
"Good. They were stillborn then. Two Yama children."  
  
"Oh-- Tenou, Tenou, please--"  
  
He interrupted her. "You will stay in seclusion and nurse them until they are strong, and then, Shuki, I will take them to Meru and leave them there. After all," he continued, suddenly smiling, "I think Yasha and Ashura would like to have children. Don't you? Yasha will make such a good father."  
  
Shuki smiled then too, a little sadly, glancing from son to daughter. "Yes. He most certainly will." She looked back up. "Tenou, it was like a dream... So fleeting."  
  
"I know." He lay a hand on her hair. "But when you feel despondent, remember this: You achieved your love."  
  
"And what shall I do now?"  
  
"Go on. Don't look back. Help me turn your Yama here into a just Emporer-- one who will love his little brother and sister. One who will not scorn an Ashura."  
  
"That will be hard."  
  
"But necessary. The world is changed because of you. Great clans are reborn. Some day these two will come down off the mountain to have children of their own. They must find a new world, a world that does not hate Ashuras. Can you do this for Yasha? Can you change the world again?"  
  
She drew a deep breath. "For Yasha, I think I could do anything... Thank you, Tenou." 


End file.
